Snow way! Inverness woman manages to ski each month for a decade in Scotland
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AN Inverness woman has reached a record of 120 consecutive months of skiing on mountains in Scotland.
She took up the challenge in 2009, after winning her fight against oesophageal cancer, which she was diagnosed with in October 2007.
To mark the 10th anniversary of her challenge she enjoyed the snowy turnout below the summit of Cairngorm on October 2.
Ms Rennie (65) said: "I am really pleased with this achievement, you take the challenge day by day and hope that you will find enough snow each time."
The former geography teacher said: "I have always been a downhill skier, but when I discovered ski alpinism I realised I could leave the lifts aside and reach snow patches where you could find snow most time of the year, and this is how I began hunting for places around Scotland.
"I normally go in the Cairngorms but at times, when I can't find enough snow to ski, like this September, I would go to Aonach Beag in the Nevis Range, however, this place is rather difficult to access and it takes a while to reach."
She said her passion for skiing helped her in her fight against cancer.
“When you are out in the hills, you don’t have time to think about these problems," 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.”
After recovering from her treatment in November 2009, she headed up Cairngorm.
With the snow laying in the mountains throughout the summer, she decided to try to ski for 12 consecutive months by hiking up to the remaining snow patches.
Ms Rennie is part of a group of snow-patch watchers on Facebook, who monitor the possible skiing locations.
"Doing it for so long, you go there not just for skiing but also to see how the patches change, how they melt and how they change each year," she said.
"It's getting more difficult to find patches during summer, probably due to climate change, so now you never know if you'll actually find snow the next month."
