Blubberhouses, 15 December 2019

In our quest for skiable snow, we first went to Yorkshire Dales, planning to go further north if the snow cover is too thin. We have not skied in Blubberhouses before. We left the car in a lay-by on A59.

The red line shows our track.

We were lucky, the moors were covered with fresh snow. Unfortunately it was a thin layer of soft snow on top of tall heather plants. The skis kept getting stuck in the heather. We found some patches of freshly burned heather, skiing on these patches was much easier.

We got to a path by Round Hill. The snow got a bit more compacted and skiing became more enjoyable. The sun came out and transformed the landscape.

Sliding downhill.

Snow drifts by the stone walls.

We followed a hard-to-find path covered with just enough snow for skiing.

The "golf balls" are the radars at RAF Menwith Hill.

We are going to Lippersley Pike, a hill on the right. We followed our track on the way back: this was much faster as we did not have to break new trail.

It got a bit warmer and the snow started sticking to the skis. We managed to get back to the car before darkness. This was a great way to open a new ski season in England.

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