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PICTURES: Adventure Show captures the magic of off-piste skiing in Scotland





A two-hour telly special will be bringing some of the recent fantastic wintersports conditions in the Cairngorms into the living rooms of the UK.

With skiing and snowboarding sadly still off-limits for most Brits during the Covid pandemic, the Adventure Show ventured into the surrounding peaks to capture the superb Alpine conditions of last month.

Newtonmore-based show producer Richard Else said: "The Cairngorms are indisputably the star of the show. Our two-hour special has been designed to inspire and lift the spirts during the Covid lockdown."

The programme sees presenter Dougie Vipond and Advie based Zoe Laird discover the skills needed for off-piste skiing.

Show presenters Dougie Vipond and Lauren MacCallum on their Cairngorms adventure.
Show presenters Dougie Vipond and Lauren MacCallum on their Cairngorms adventure.

Vipond, who had a bad experience trying it out many years ago for the show, admits: "I tried it once before and didn’t enjoy it. My legs just go to jelly."

But with expert instruction from Kingussie-based Alison Thacker, both beat their inner demons and make a successful descent of Meall a’Buachaille above Glenmore.

And with the local mountains looking better than ever, fellow presenter Duncan McCallum joins Hannah Bailey, from Aviemore, to demonstrate how to get out and about easier in the backcountry for snowboarding.

By using splitboards – snowboards that split into two, they skin up to the summit of Sgòr Gaoith above Glenfeshie before a descent down through some fantastic powder.

Duncan McCallum and Hannah Bailey skinning up to the summit of Sgòr Gaoith above Glenfeshie.
Duncan McCallum and Hannah Bailey skinning up to the summit of Sgòr Gaoith above Glenfeshie.

Presenter Lauren MacCallum, also from Aviemore, tempts fellow host Patrick Winterton to try snowboarding after a gap of 35 years.

Winterton is no stranger to adventure having kayaked from Scotland to the Faroes and once been part of the British cross country Olympic ski team.

However, he has said putting two feet on one plank is a challenge he’s successfully managed to avoid for a very long time until this show.

There’s also an emphasis on staying safe in the mountains with a feature on the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team during one of their regular training exercises and tips on using an avalanche transceiver - an essential item of kit for those heading off piste.

The show also features some of Scotland's best off-piste skiing in other parts of the country.

Kingussie-based Alison Thacker provided expert tuition to Dougie Vipond and Zoe Laird.
Kingussie-based Alison Thacker provided expert tuition to Dougie Vipond and Zoe Laird.

Mr Else said: "I’m delighted that we’ve managed to showcase our fantastic landscape and that for local people it’s still possible to have a safe adventure.

"Hopefully this will also inspire people to return once restrictions lift.

"We’ve got a feature with four backcountry skiers and their material has been shot over a number of winters.

"But all of our new footage – the split boarding above Glenfeshie; snowboarding at the Lecht; the introduction to off-piste skiing above Glenmore – was all shot during the recent freezing spell.

"Of course, many of our team are based in Badenoch from series producer Margaret Wicks, mountain guides including Mark Diggins and James Thacker to extreme cameraman Rupert Shanks.

"We were all thrilled to have this opportunity to celebrate what’s on our backdoor whilst adhering to all the Covid 19 regulations in place."

The Adventure Show airs on the BBC Scotland channel next Thursday (March 11) at 7pm and can be seen throughout the UK on the BBC iPlayer.


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