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So, it's been one of the quietest Xmas periods I've had in a long time, albeit not boring.
Christmas was peaceful, new years night, I was bedded before the bells, and next day, I did the karoke at the local pub, which was a resounding success.
Also, at last, the chance to break my skiing cherry arose, so arising uber-early, I set of for Glencoe for a day on the mountain. The weather could never have been better, blue skies, and fresh powder from the previous night.
I headed up to Lochearnhead to meet up with Cathy at her post office, then we set off for the short drive to the slopes. What could possibly go wrong??
Well, if you are one of those rare breeds that actually read my blog, you will be well aware that the potential for 'wrong-going' and 'me' seems to be intertwined rather tightly.
Sure enough, 7 miles from the slopes, the road was closed due to a head-on collision. We joined the line of traffic at the side of the road, and I went off to see what the damage was. Not good as it happens.
The fire services had arrived by this time, and it was going to be a time consuming and very careful 'cut-out' of the casualty required. Luckily, an air ambulance was on its way from Glasgow, at which point I offered my services, as ex aircrew to bring it in. So far, so good, until we realised that the ambulance service radios cannot communicate with the air radios..... What the f...
Therefore, with about 30ft of road cleared, I attempted to hand marshall the chopper in, and all was going splendidly... until 20 ft above the ground, the snow was whipped up into zero vis, and a swift cancellation of that idea was deemed sensible.
Then came an amazing piece of flying (or daft). The pilot hovered 40 ft above the road, then dropped the chopper like a stone, bang on target. Considering that the rotor blades were missing the roadside snowpole indicators by just a few feet, this was commendable bravery.
After 3 hours, the casualty was on her way to Glasgow, and we were heading back south, to collect Digger the dog, and went for a walk in the Lawers Range instead of the planned skiing. T'was still a good afternoon though.
The latest news, is I now have myself a new puppy, Blaze, to accompany me on my hill jaunts, and with luck, to start training in SAR when he's about 6 months old.
Just been blow-dried.
Let's hope I manage to train myself well enough to allow him to fullfill his potential.
