Snow on the way (in Ireland)

cormee

... according to the Indo: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/a-white-christmas-snow-is-already-on-the-way-30801017.html

Anyone got any tips on where would be a good place to get the board out around Dublin, if at all possible?

Living in hope!

SpaceCowb0y

I will also be following the snowfall for this reason! Id imagine if we get a half decent dump like a couple of years ago anywhere in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains would be ok to build a small jump to buzz off for a few hours!

Someone in a thread last year mentioned a spot out west that was meant to be ok! Lots of walking involved regardless though:rolleyes:

cormee

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

I will also be following the snowfall for this reason! Id imagine if we get a half decent dump like a couple of years ago anywhere in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains would be ok to build a small jump to buzz off for a few hours!

Someone in a thread last year mentioned a spot out west that was meant to be ok! Lots of walking involved regardless though:rolleyes:

Golf clubs could earn a few bob during their down-time by renting out their buggies and allowing their land to be used.

I'll be checking out the Curragh plains if we get a dump, nice rolling land, no roads, seems pretty suitable, but I've never seen anyone using it for that purpose.

SpaceCowb0y

You'd want to head higher than The Curragh, far too flat to get a decent run! Up to lugnaquilla would be the best bet i'd say!

Fattes

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

Up to lugnaquilla would be the best bet i'd say!

Jesus, No! Avoid Lug, its difficult enough in decent weather but in bad weather you will end up calling out the mountain rescue guys to get you!

Plenty of places in the Phoinex Park, and other small parks around the city.

AlternateID

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

You'd want to head higher than The Curragh, far too flat to get a decent run! Up to lugnaquilla would be the best bet i'd say!

You don't need much of a hill if building a small jump. So much walking though. Little bit of speed and you can do 180s, 360s, tamedogs and in my case 90s followed by face plant. I'm the king of 90.

If it snows and someone is heading out let me know. My board won't even if it my car never mind my car getting up the garage ramp.

CardinalJ

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

Up to lugnaquilla would be the best bet i'd say!

Was up Lug last weekend hiking. This skiing up there would be madness. Some of the northern side just west of the Artillery range could be 'safe' but to be honest it'd be such a trek up with gear I wouldn't be bothered'. Also the ground is very wet so it'd need a lot of freezing before anything will stick.

Djouce 'Mountain resort' has always looked OK to me but I still haven't skid there.

Either way the forecast has changed a bit so don't know if the snow will materialise as expected.

cormee

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

You'd want to head higher than The Curragh, far too flat to get a decent run! Up to lugnaquilla would be the best bet i'd say!

Lots of potential places in the Curragh, and it's not as flat as they'd have you believe! There would be one great spot, if you're familiar with the place, going from the old military cemetry down to the road that runs paralell to it, you'd only be up for a minute or so but I'd take what I could get. There's also a big hill they use for tank training, it's man made, and it would have the same angle as a black slope, you'd only get 15 seconds or so on that! But there is lots of land with a fairly ok gradient, and no roads, that you could get a few minutes on the board.

This is one of my favourite snowboarding videos (the first part) and it shows the fun you could have on a fairly flat surface https://vimeo.com/70193489 ... it also shows the fun you could have if you have a snowboard and a horse

CardinalJ

cormee wrote: »

it also shows the fun you could have if you have a snowboard and a horse

Haha:D

prunudo

CardinalJ wrote: »

Djouce 'Mountain resort' has always looked OK to me but I still haven't skid there.
.

This was me up on the Lough Tay side of Djouce 2 years ago. It wasn't as good as Jamuary 2010 but still good for a laugh.
We parked at Ballinatoe and hiked up through the forest. Fingers crossed we'll get to go up again at some stage this winter.

a148pro

Great video on line of lads ski touring in the mournes. I've no skis unfortunately but would love to head up if I got a chance.

Fattes I presume if I went out to kilternan, rented gear and fecked "off piste" they wouldn't be impressed? You'd knacker gear skiing it on half an inch of snow in am irish field in fairness.

Fattes

a148pro wrote: »

Great video on line of lads ski touring in the mournes. I've no skis unfortunately but would love to head up if I got a chance.

Fattes I presume if I went out to kilternan, rented gear and fecked "off piste" they wouldn't be impressed? You'd knacker gear skiing it on half an inch of snow in am irish field in fairness.

You wouldn't be the first! Fields are surprisingly soft on skis/board bases! Its stones and other thins that do the damage.

zagmund

We went "off piste" in Kilternan a few years back during the big snow of whenever it was. It's not approved of, probably voids the insurance, etc . . . but it's just sooooo inviting. When you get to the top of the lift, go off to the right instead of the left and you will be on what was a golf course, before the Celtic Tiger roared at exactly the wrong time. The drop to the bottom of the lift is the same vertical distance as the artificial slope but it's much, much wider and there are a couple of small features on it. It's a pity it can't be pressed into duty officially on the few occasions when we have enough snow, but the reality is that the equipment to prepare it properly would be too expensive for the one or two times a year.

z

CardinalJ

I was up Tonegalee in wicklow this morning. Could definitely be skid, even today you could have a go. Tons of snow up top, can't really see it from the road.

stevire

CardinalJ wrote: »

I was up Tonegalee in wicklow this morning. Could definitely be skid, even today you could have a go. Tons of snow up top, can't really see it from the road.

Interesting!

Never been to Tonelagee, 3-4 hour hike doesn't sound right to me though:
http://www.wicklowwalks.com/tonelagee

Will it really take that long? If there's a bit more snow this week I'll try get up there Saturday morning and board back down!

Timmaay

Nay they are always conservative with those estimates to prevent people going out too late in the day and getting stranded. The route up to Tonelagee isnt the most obvious path if I remember correctly from my hill running days, make sure ya do your research.

duckysauce

stevire wrote: »

Interesting!

Never been to Tonelagee, 3-4 hour hike doesn't sound right to me though:
http://www.wicklowwalks.com/tonelagee

Will it really take that long? If there's a bit more snow this week I'll try get up there Saturday morning and board back down!

it is at least a 3 hour round trip walk without a break and if there is snow it would take longer if you take that route . 1h 15 -30 would get you to the top, long slog that route carrying a board, there is a quicker more direct route up there than that.

CardinalJ

I basically went up from the car park at the entrance to the hydro station. First thing in the am the night after a christmas party so I wasn't going my fastest. Id say it took 1.10/20 up

Visability only about 20m near the top. I'd say a two days of a few decent snow showers would be enough to make it very board/skiable.

Its a lot of soft heather etc the whole way down as well so shouldn't destroy your board/skis.

Can see from the two photos what it looked like from the road (pretty much snow free), but in the other photo there was heaps of snow up top. Serious trek up for sure, but more skiable and accessible than a lot of other peaks around.

EDIT - if you're going skiing in Ireland you're basically going hiking. If you're going off into the mountains for a morning/afternoon/day make sure you're bringing map/compass etc. There's no piste patrol at the end of the day and it'll take Mountain rescue a good while to get to you.

stevire

Thanks for all the info, the pics look great! Definitely a good bit of snow there to get a couple of runs in.

I'll be keeping a close eye on the weather, low visibility is not fun when up in the wicklow mountains. Been in that situation before... I generally always try mark out a path before setting off and ticking landmarks along the way. Would be a great time to check out the Prizm lenses though, a true test!

There's rain forecast for Thurs but looks like the temps are rising too

CardinalJ

Anyone been on skis or a board in Wicklow?

Back from St Anton this afternoon and have serious withdrawals!

stevire

CardinalJ wrote: »

Anyone been on skis or a board in Wicklow?

Back from St Anton this afternoon and have serious withdrawals!

How was St Anton? Heading there on the 31st, cant wait!!

Went up Tonelagee yesterday, wind blown and solid ice on the north side when we got up but there was plenty of snow. If the snow falls tonight it'd be a good option, there was plenty of toboggans out on the road up to hydro station too. We ended up boarding down over the heathers on the south side (facing Turlough), use an old board if you're gonna do this!!

Looked like plenty of cover on other peaks too.

Here's a short vid from yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn_toCB-nR0

CardinalJ

stevire wrote: »

How was St Anton? Heading there on the 31st, cant wait!!

Went up Tonelagee yesterday, wind blown and solid ice on the north side when we got up but there was plenty of snow. If the snow falls tonight it'd be a good option, there was plenty of toboggans out on the road up to hydro station too. We ended up boarding down over the heathers on the south side (facing Turlough), use an old board if you're gonna do this!!

Looked like plenty of cover on other peaks too.

Here's a short vid from yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn_toCB-nR0

Was great. Snow was poor enough on the Sunday we arrived, had two good dumps while we were there and a huge one the Friday night/sat we were leaving. Should be in good condition for you providing temperatures dont rise.

The south side of Tonelegee is the side I'd always want to do. Looks more like frozen mist in your vid. Can see it on the grass. It's due to snow up there a little tongiht I think, but I've work and might thaw a bit this weekend.

stevire

CardinalJ wrote: »

Was great. Snow was poor enough on the Sunday we arrived, had two good dumps while we were there and a huge one the Friday night/sat we were leaving. Should be in good condition for you providing temperatures dont rise.

The south side of Tonelegee is the side I'd always want to do. Looks more like frozen mist in your vid. Can see it on the grass. It's due to snow up there a little tongiht I think, but I've work and might thaw a bit this weekend.

Brill, looks like a bit of snow on the way this weekend in St Anton too. Thanks for the update, counting down the hours to it now!

Yeah its very fickle up there, there was a lot more covering on the north side. If the sun melts some of the frost on the north side at the weekend it might be worth a look. Sun was shining on the south side so it melted away the frost/ice, some of the snow was nice and soft. I wouldn't be taking a good board out in it though, couldn't turn between the tuffs of heather so was just straight-lining as much as possible and was very bumpy. Worth the trip and trek all the same, was good fun for a Sunday avo in Wicklow!

Temps dropping again after the weekend and bit of rain predicted which might mean snow on higher ground!

a148pro

I can see a bit of white on the dublin mountains today, has anyone been up and could tell me somewhere that's white and closely accessible from a safe road I'd love to bring my son up to play around?

epopnomis

How do you drive up to tonlagee... I'm coming from dublin direction.

CardinalJ

drive to larragh. then can go over military road or head to glendalough and take the right just before it. depends which side you want to Tonkin.