Well the day came and went. The ski trip for the kids I mentioned happened today.

After a two hour drive to Ben Lomond National Park we approached the foot of the mountain.
We had a taste of the black ice on the road when the car spun out of control on a corner. Thankfully, no injuries or damage and I was able to get the car back on the road.

Another half mile and rangers told us we were going no further without a 4WD and snow chains.
We had to take the shuttle bus to the summit, trouble is, we stood for early 2 hours in the snow with quite a few others waiting for the bus.

The road to the summit is called Jacobs Ladder, it was the steepest, most dangerous road I've seen since the road to kathmandu. I'm glad I wasn't driving.

Once at the top there was a confusion of hundreds of people waiting to hire gear, waiting for the ski lift and skiing all over the place.

With the wind chill, it was as cold a place as I've been for a while.
I wore long thermal trousers (track pants), gaiters and boots. I'm sure I would have been OK in a thick kilt, but everyone would have thought I was suicidal.

My wife and I spent our few hours there mainly checking the kids and meeting their needs, my daughters' first snowboarding experience was not a happy one, spending most of her time sitting on the snow (as some of your predicted).

While it was an interesting experience, I was glad to get off the mountain. We heard of one car accident and one spinal injury and saw an ambulance racing to the mountain, but we were happy to get home unhurt.

So at last I sit here back in a kilt with a well earned dram.

Snowboarding and skiing? nah, you can keep it, I'll stick to hiking any day.
I've posted a photo.