The area under consideration is well-supplied with paths and bridleways, many of which will hold snow blown clear of the surrounding area. Recent legislation promises soon to provide much more freedom to choose your route across the high open country most suitable for skiing, rather than sticking rigidly to defined lines which may not hold the best snow. Lower down, paths and tracks in the lee of the many drystone walls will often hold skiable remains of snow drifts after much of the snow has melted away. Access via such public rights of way is obviously not a problem, provided users adhere to the country code. This includes leaving gates as you found them and not climbing walls. However, in heavy snow, it is often impossible to open gates in the first place. If snow is deep enough you can just step over such obstacles, but more frequently you will have to remove skis and climb over. Please use stiles (there are depressingly few which are skier-friendly) in preference to climbing gates or walls. Exercise care when there is no choice but climbing, and repair any damage which may occur to drystone walls.

On the open moors above the highest walls, access is often restricted in the grouse breeding season in the spring and, of course, during the shooting season from August 12th. These restrictions would not normally affect skiers ! When descending from the higher ground, however, beware of disturbing livestock which may need much more energy to run away in deep snow, at just the time when grazing is hard to find. Experience suggests that sheep are just as likely to flock towards a random skier, thinking her to be a farmer bringing much needed sustenance. Try to keep going steadily rather than pausing which only encourages them to use more energy following you.

For the background to the rights of access to the countryside "enjoyed" in Britain, I can do no better than to refer the interested reader to Marion Shoard's "This Land is Our Land" (see bibliography). In the nordic skiing nations of Scandinavia, the public have "Allemansratten", or all men's right to wander at will. A much watered down version of this for some "open country" is about to materialise here, over fifty years after the first attemtps to provide access for the public to our contryside. In Britain, skiers can come closer to the ideal by arguing that, technically, snow (especially if still drifting) is part of the atmosphere, not the land. Thus the skier on top of the snow is using the airspace, and so the question of trespass does not arise. Flying a few inches above the ground, the skier is unlikely to come into conflict with other air users and so can, pretty much, travel wherever he or she likes. This principle has not, to my knowledge, been tested in law, and a landowner with a shotgun may not be inclined to engage in technical arguments over whether you are, or are not, on his land, so please exercise reasonable consideration.

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