Climate change hasn’t stopped a former geography teacher from Inverness from skiiing for 120 consecutive months on Scottish snow.
Her record breaking 10-year achievement has seen her hike many miles with her skis in summer and autumn to ski tiny remaining snow patches in the Cairngorms and Nevis area.
With this month looking like all remaining snow patches from last season may disappear, 65-year-old Helen Rennie was hoping for new snow – and on Wednesday her wish was granted, and there was just enough to make some turns below the summit of Cairngorm.
The previous month she had hiked six miles to a patch at Aonach Beag accessed primarily by the gondola at Nevis Range.
She said: “Way back in November 2009, I headed up Cairngorm to enjoy the first day of the snow sports season, never for a moment imagining that day would be the start of a record-breaking achievement. It was an epic ski season and snow lay in the mountains throughout the summer, so I decided to try to ski for 12 consecutive months by hiking up to the remaining snow patches- and then it just kind of snowballed.”
Helen first tried in 2006 and managed 11 months but in the October of 2007 was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer so didn’t manage the full year.
She said: “The real heroes of this achievement are my GPs and the staff at Raigmore hospital because without them I wouldn’t have been here to attempt this challenge.”
The challenge has been more difficult these past three years, as there has been less snow accumulating over the winter.
Helen says going up in the summer is now not only about skiing the patches but also about monitoring their changes over each year.
Celebrating her 10 year achievement with a strong coffee, said she hoped this winter would be as good as 2009/10.