Helen Rennie Skis Scotland All Year
Defeating Cancer and Skiing Year Around in Scotland


A piste of the action: Woman sets record by skiing in Scotland in every month




Published Date: 24 October 2010
By Emma Cowing

SHE has skied on melting snow patches and fresh powder, dodged rocks and reindeer, and even beaten cancer to achieve her goal. And last week Helen Rennie set a new record by skiing on Cairn Gorm mountain for 12 months in a row.

Rennie, 56, first attempted to ski 12 months in a row in 2007 but faced an unexpected setback when she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

"In September of that year I realised I only had one more month left to get the 12, but on the only snow day in October I was sitting in Raigmore Hospital in Inverness waiting to see my surgeon after a cancer diagnosis, and I wasn't able to carry on," she said.

Despite having two courses of chemotherapy in the winter of 2007, Rennie continued to ski when she was out of hospital, and in early 2008 she underwent major surgery to have part of her oesophagus removed.

"I was back on snow two months after surgery," she said. "I wasn't skiing the way I normally would, just very gently, but I was absolutely delighted.


"I'm just a positive person and this was my little goal - to get back out and ski."

Rennie, who has been a ski ambassador for CairnGorm Mountain Ltd for ten years, practises off-piste skiing, meaning that for much of the season she skis out with normal ski runs, walking to the areas where she is skiing with her skis on her back rather than taking a lift


White Woman Skis Scotland All Year
Helen Rennie is a sports heroine on many levels.