At the start of November, a bunch of us were staying up at the Rothiemurchus lodge in the Cairngorms for a mountain biking weekend. Around 20 metres from the front door of the lodge a trail starts that’s a bit of a boggy slog, but it takes you over to a point midway down the Lairig Ghru. My mate and I had arrived at the lodge earlier than everyone else on the Friday evening and went for a cheeky night ride down there in the snow. Everything clicked into place. My bike just lapped up the sketchy conditions thrown at it. The freezing fog and snow seemed to soak up my lights, so every turn felt like a last minute, life or death decision and for a short trail, it just seemed to go on forever in the dark and silence.

In more than 25 yrs of winter night riding, that felt like the finest one I’ve ever done. It’s a magnificent trail at the best of times, but riding it on a dark snowy night just stuck a big gold star on the experience for me.

Plaine Morte in Switzerland, ski lifts up to nearly 3000m,fabulous scenery with high alpine peaks and views over a glacier. Very varied descent all the way to Sion, starting with loose almost moonscape scree, finishing with some super exposed singletrack along side a gorge and a final drop through vineyards. High alpine routes dont get much better.

Either that or a trail alongside the Aletsch Glacier from fieschalp.