Membership
David Nichol tel: 01563-830 496
Others
Grace Lyon tel: 0141-427 5322
Club Discussion Group on Yahoo
…… is the Glasgow club for those interested in ski touring.
Founded as Glasgow Nordic Ski Club in 1984, we are a small and friendly club, with a fine range of skiers, from the really good to the pretty mediocre, but we have all been beginners and we welcome all sorts. We aim to provide a medium for the spread of information between members and by bringing together like-minded people, to help everyone to get out on the hills with skiing companions to suit.
Snow conditions in Scotland have been pretty poor in the last few years, but we maintain a regular programme of winter weekend meets. This provides the opportunity for club members to go away for weekend and day trips and enjoy a cheerful break with other club members. If there really is no snow, then we would generally go for a walk, or take bikes.
To get the best of the snow conditions, we habitually ski in the Cairngorms and outlying hills. Club members also regularly ski abroad – Norway, France, Italy and Canada in recent years.
We also have occasional evening meets during the winter with guest speakers on a variety of topics. Outwith the skiing season, we have monthly weekend meets for walking and cycle touring. Sea kayaking has been mentioned and may feature in the future. It is quite acceptable to join and only come on the summer meets.
Currently, we have no-one in the club who is qualified to teach skiing, but instruction can be arranged.
We have a vibrant newsgroup on Yahoo! which is well used to spread news about snow conditions etc..
You will be very welcome.
Freeheel skiing covers a wide spectrum and there is a range of gear which goes with it. Below is a basic guide to the different forms, with their more usual designations.
Cross-country:
Low-level skiing on narrow light-weight skis, with no metal edge. Boots are trainer-type shoes, with a bar built into the toe which clips onto the binding on the ski. Abroad, such as Norway or Austria, tracks in the snow are made by a machine, and the skis run in the tracks. Here, tracks are rarely cut. Progress is by a sort of bouncing run, with long poles to help you push. Being lightweight, it can be fast.
Nordic:
Effectively hill-walking with skis. The skis are heavier, with a sharp metal edge. Boots are either a heavy leather “walking-boot” type or a plastic boot, with plenty of flex. The ski binding can be either a clip which holds the front of the toe (of the boot) or a cable binding, which has a wire which goes round the heel of the boot. In Scotland, you would normally have “skins” which are like long strips of velvet which you stick to the bottom of the skis. These enable you to walk up a snow slope, with your skis on, you then take them off to ski the downhill bits. In Norway, where the snow is colder and dryer, and the hills tend to be less steep, wax is applied to the base of the ski, which allows enough grip on the snow to progress uphill, but will also slide over the snow when you ski downhill. Poles are shorter and stronger than for cross-country. In suitable snow, all the normal downhill turns – snow-plough, stem, parallel – are possible on Nordic skis, as well as the iconic telemark turn (the one where you go down on one knee).
Telemarking:
This is piste skiing, using a freeheel binding and technique. Skis are often heavier than for Nordic, wider, softer and more curved to help in quick regular turns. Boots are generally plastic, possibly with more of an inbuilt angle to them, so they are good for downhill but not so good for walking in. Poles would be like downhill poles.
Ski Mountaineering:
This is alpine touring – skiing probably on steeper slopes. The equipment is heavier again, more like downhill skiing, and the boots would be a stiff plastic boot. The bindings have a peg which can be flipped up to raise the heel of the boot when climbing. The peg is put down again and the heel clipped to the binding for downhill skiing.