Attempting to ski at Cairngorm

The weather has turned wintry again and when we went up to Speyside this past weekend there was snow on the mountains and icy ground in the valleys.
The first couple of nights we spent with the hill-walking club at a hostel in Newtonmore. It was basic, as expected in a hostel, but clean and functional with bunk rooms and a large kitchen / living area. While everyone else (there were eight of us) went walking on the Saturday, I decided to go skiing at Cairngorm. I paid £28.50 to ski only one and a half times down the mountain! It was good fun going up on the funicular railway, but I emerged into a freezing gale, with cloud so low that I could hardly see more than a few feet in front of me! To make matters worse, the snow was stripped smooth and stony by the wind, which made skiing most unpleasant and in fact very hazardous. On my second run down I fell right onto my face! I was sure that I had burst my nose but it wasn't bleeding and after a small sob or two I continued on my way. * I saw a poma tow disappearing upwards into the clag and asked the operator if it went right up to the top. He confirmed that it did, but warned me that  it was for "experts only." I assured him that I had used lots of poma tows before, however when I saw another skier being lifted right off the ground by the vicious tow, I quailed slightly.  Sure enough I was almost wrenched off my feet, but I hung on grimly and soon arrived at the top.  I had carefully put my bankcard in my pocket so that I could get a snack and a coffee at lunch time. Or so I thought. When I came to pay for my coffe and sandwich at the Ptarmigan restaurant, I reached into my pocket and instead pulled out a Costa Coffee card (it's the same colour as my bank card, hence the mistake). There was nothing for it, I had to put back my lunch and after venturing outside to confirm that the wind was blowing stronger than ever, I took the train back down the mountain and consoled myself with a nice steak sandwich in a cafe in Aviemore.

* My nose still feels bruised nearly a week later.