The Swinhope Head road is narrow, gated, and not ploughed with any urgency above the last inhabited farms. From Teesdale, Field Head (off the road at 348m) seems to be regarded as important, and a little later, a plough may make it up to Moor House and/or Watson's Bridge.
After this the road climbs onto open fellside, and has a nice steady gradient, which can be a pleasure to ski, up or down. There are various gates, but these can usually be opened just enough for a skier to squeeze through. Descending this road to Watson's bridge is a jolly schuss with no steep bits and almost no reascent, with splendid views over Teesdale.
From the col at the top, pleasantly grassy ridges go east and west, each with a reassuring fenceline to follow back, should visibility deteriorate during your tour. On the east, 75m or so of ascent will reach the trig point, from where tracks may be retraced, or a descent made into the basin of Flushiemere Beck, arriving back at the road at Watson's Bridge.
From the road just on the Weardale side of the summit, a lower line NE then more north traverses the spur of Black Hill to another trig point at 559m with excellent views up and down Weardale. Only about 50m of ascent would now be needed to rejoin the main ridge east of Swinhope Head. The author has no experience of the descents north into Weardale (yet) but the catchment of Westernhope Burn should hold snow well, if a shuttle car was arranged (or you are prepared for a bit of a walk).
To the west of Swinhope Head, a slightly shorter distance climbing 90m reaches Fendrith Hill, also with a trig point. The ridge could be followed round to the north to reach Chapelfell Top if a longer tour was wanted. The steep bowl to the northeast is Swinhope Moor itself - the head of Swinhope Burn, served by the Weardale ski tows, and probably most suitable for a descent on alpine equipment. To the south of the ridge, descents should be possible to either Langdon Beck or Ettersgill (neither seen by the author). From the section of ridge nearest the road, the headwaters of Wester Beck have numerous shallow snow-holding gulleys which converge into the main valley, at a very amenable gradient. By contouring out of this to the left at about 410m, the road just above Watson's bridge is readily regained.
Alternatively, the valley could be followed a little further and an escape made via the track from Broadley's Gate. Don't try to go all the way down to Bowlees, as the valley becomes a lot steeper in its lower reaches. If the road was impassable right from Newbiggin, and snow is skiable to valley level, an alternative to skiing back on the road would be to cross it and follow the bridleway from Moor House into the shallow valley which flows down to Newbiggin.
Tour list