Chasing a passion for skiing during Covid pandemic
- Published
Finbar Doig on a previous trip to Switzerland
A young Scot says he is "grateful" to be able to "chase his passion" for skiing during the Covid pandemic.
Inverness-based Finbar Doig, 19, participates in freeride skiing, an extreme sport which involves tackling off-piste mountain terrain.
Just before travel restrictions were tightened last year, he left Scotland for the French Alps where he spent a previous winter season.
In Tignes in France he has been able to maintain some skills by ski touring.
Finbar started skiing with his family when he was just three.
He became hooked on the sport from the age of seven after completing his first small jump at the Cairngorm ski centre near Aviemore.
Finbar's interest in skiing started at an early age
In his early teens he became interested in freeriding, a form of off-piste skiing and snowboarding on untouched snow on steep, rocky mountain terrain.
Enthusiasts can spend days planning "lines" - the best routes down a gully or mountainside.
Finbar skiing in Chamonix in France
Finbar's enthusiasm for the extreme sport was reinforced by skiing down The Flypaper at Glen Coe, one of the steepest ski runs in Europe.
The Covid pandemic has severely limited his activities over the past year.
Even though he has made it to the Alps, Finbar has been skiing significantly less than normal due to ski lifts being closed. But he has managed some ski touring - backcountry skiing - in the mountains.
Finbar said: "I had planned to be working on my ski instructing qualifications this season - also in France - but due to the Covid situation, that is on hold for another year.
"If money was no object I would have loved to have come back to Scotland for a week or two of skiing because this season's conditions were so epic."
Finbar freeride skiing in the Scottish Highlands
The latest winter saw Scotland's mountains having the heaviest snowfalls in a decade, something Highlands-based Finbar would have been able to take advantage of.
He said: "There're a few lines that I would have loved to ski this season since they are rarely in condition and skiing big lines in Scotland is always extra special."
But the young skier said he appreciated he was among the lucky few to be able to enjoy outdoor sports.
He said: "I've had a fair few messages from friends back home who are unlucky enough to live far from the mountains.
"I imagine it has been extra tough for them seeing mountain locals skiing all sorts of fantastic lines in Scotland this year."
Finbar poised to head down a line in the Highlands
Finbar added: "Lockdown and travel restrictions have been hard for everyone.
"For me, it has made me feel especially grateful to be able to continue chasing my passion amidst a global pandemic, with so many people going through hard times."
Watch Finbar on BBC Scotland's The Adventure Show on Thursday 11 March.