Cairngorm gliders counting cost of Storm Gerrit
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Among those picking up the pieces in the strath after Wednesday's vicious gales are the members of Cairngorm Gliding Club at Feshiebridge.
"Sadly, Storm Gerrit took its toll on our magnificent club," posted spokesman Stewart Hills, after more than 80 trees had been uprooted.
"We have a weather monitor at the club which tells us that the storm was mostly gusting around the 90 mark but one particular gust came in at 145mph!
"Although tied down and secured, gliders managed to succumb to the 60-plus mph gusts predicted and were unfortunately damaged.
"Damage was limited to a few gliders and a handful of trailers but one T hanger needed some TLC and our amazing members hopefully mended it.
"There was some minor damage to a few caravans temporarily housed on site and our old maintenance building needs more TLC than ever."
The biggest problem the club faces right now is the sheer amoutn of trees which have been brought down onto the airfield.
"One of our members counted more than 80 trees have fallen!"
Mr Hills reported: "Those of you who visit our club regularly will definitely notice the view of the hill has improved massively, due to the amount of tree that have fallen in the forest across the road.
"We will definitely not be purchasing wood for the foreseeable for our amazing club house log burning fire, due to the abundance of wood readily available to us now.
"For some of us, we managed to get away with no damage, however for others the damage was costly."
The first task is to figure out how to get the rogue trailer (fortunately with no glider inside) out from the nearby field, he said.
