Snow sculpture, Monadliath mountains, Scotland.
Winter arrived properly this week, with heavy snowfalls on friday. Taking advantage while the conditions were good, myself and 3 friends went on a back-country ski expedition yesterday.
I took this image as we headed up onto higher ground and into the wind. The spindrift creates beautiful shifting snaky patterns across the snow surface, just a-blowin in the wind. In these arctic conditions, exposing fingers for a photo means many minutes of pain until fingers return to life!
Today its been melting, so thank you to the elements for giving us a proper taste of winter, and thank you for great friends to share it with.
Up on the mountain you become so aware of everything – you can seem alone, even when next to your companions; isolated by the wind your thoughts become louder, you become more aware of the inner dialogue; awareness stretches to cover your body in a checklist – can I still feel everything? Your balance is in constant shift between undulating ground, snow, and the wind. This is physical, this is real, and its so beautiful. A bit like life!
– Neil