Skiing in Scotland ?? Aviemore / Cairngorm Mountain

[phil]

So I've heard you can ski in Scotland, so me and some friends are thinking of taking a weekend break to ski there. Maybe Aviemore or Cairngorm Mountain. Anyone done this and can recommend where to go/stay/how to get there? I think it's about 2.5 hours from Glasgow airport and I think I can get their fairly cheaply.

Or even if there is enough snow there to ski ever !?!

thanks
phil

[imported_admin]

Phil as far as I know you can go to Scotland and ski. But the conditions aren't half as good as France or any of the other countries that share the alps.

Remember that the pound is quite strong so you might end up paying more than you would at a resort in mainland Europe.

Also I don't think the mounatins in Scotland are that high, I checked Wiki and they say that Ben Nevis is 1344m high.

[Riley]

Skied at the five Scottish ski centres on and off over the last twenty years and would recommend it for a last minute break to get some practice in before your week abroad or for some bonus end of season skiing.

When travelling from Ireland, Cairngorm Ski Centre is normally the best option as it has the most reliable conditions. You can subscribe to email alerts from the centres who will alert you when there’s been a good dump of snow.

Cairngorm Mountain

19 runs of which there is 1 black, 9 red and 6 blue with a further 3 green runs. Funicular railway plus 17 lifts of which 4 are chairs, 7 pomas and 6 t-bar, with their being 37km of pisted runs with the longest being 2.2km (1.36 miles). The north facing corries and slopes of the Cairngorm offer off-piste opportunities (Be careful as the snow can be unstable due to the fluctuating temperatures – check with ski patrol).

Traditionally the best snow conditions are in February. The weather at this time can be wild. When across in February it was gusting 90 mph, with winds of 130 mph not unknown. If going at this time of year take appropriate clothing, Gore-Tex or something similar.

This year we got end of season skiing in the third week of April. Link is from photos taken 17-Apr-08:

:: Winterhighland // CairnGorm Mountain // Thursday 17th April 2008 (http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/pix/pixalbum.php?pix_id=472)

All runs were open and the gullies had snow depths up to 20 feet. Normally the best balance between snow and weather conditions is in mid March.

An advantage of Cairngorm over the other ski centres for beginners is that the green slopes are at the top of the mountain plateau and have a good snow record. These slopes were open from December through to May in 2008. Also Beginners have no worries having to make their way down intermediate slopes as they can go back down the mountain on the funicular railway.

There are two mountain restaurants one being at the base the other being at around 3,000 feet. Ski equipment and clothes are available for hire in the local area and on the mountain. The centres can get busy if there has been heavy snow. To miss the queue for lift passes and equipment hire and to get the best of the day you need to be at the centre by 8am. The lifts normally close around 3.30pm in Jan\Feb, 5.00pm in March\April.

If you’re looking for ski clothes\equipment and are going in March the sales in the local shops start in March. Discounts of up to 50% are available.

Accommodation

None of the ski centres could be considered as resorts as all are least 10 miles from the nearest town. Aviemore the nearest town to Cairngorm has a wide variety of accommodation. In April we stayed at the Dell Druie Guest House. The English proprietor was a ski instructor in the French Alps before retiring and is a good source of information on the conditions. In February we stayed in the MacDonald’s hotel complex where there are four hotels. Fine if you’re in a group, if not a bit impersonal. Tripadvisor.com has a lot of info on accommodation in the area.

Travel from Ireland

When travelling from Ireland you can only book your trip a few days ahead such is the vagaries of the snow and weather conditions.
A result of this is that you can’t book ahead on the budget airlines to get the best fares. If you live in Dublin or north of it and there a few of you, the car is a practical option. We normally leave on a Friday afternoon after work, taking the ferry from Belfast\Larne to Scotland. We normally stop at Stirling or Perth to break the journey on the Friday evening. The Travelodge is normally a good bet for accommodation there. Two full days skiing is possible before getting a ferry Sunday evening and being back in Dublin around 11pm for work the next day.

Below are some links for planning a trip:

General Snow and Weather Conditions

Winterhighland - :: Winterhighland // Scottish Snow & Mountain Sports // Reachigher at Winterhighland 2008 (http://www.winterhighland.info/)
Ski Scotland - Ski Scotland - Scottish Ski Resorts and Operators, Ski Reports and Conditions (http://ski.visitscotland.com/)
Met Office - Met Office: Highlands & Eilean Siar: forecast (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/he/he_forecast_weather.html)

Ski Centres

Cairngorm - Cairngorm Mountain (http://www.cairngormmountain.org.uk/)
Glenshee - Glenshee Ski Centre (http://www.ski-glenshee.co.uk/)
By far the biggest centre in Scotland. Conditions are unpredictable though.
Anoch More - Skiing and Snowboarding at Nevis Range Fort William, Scotland :: ski and snowboard resort (http://www.nevisrange.co.uk/winter/)
Glencoe - http://www.glencoemountain.com/store/home.php
Lecht - Welcome to the Lecht 2090 Website! (http://www.lecht.co.uk/)

Travel

Ferries

P&O – P&O Irish Sea Ferries - book ferry tickets to Ireland, England, Scotland online now! (http://www.poirishsea.com/)
Stena Line - Stena Line (http://www.stenaline.com/stena-line/)

Accommodation

Aviemore

Dell Druie Guest House - Guest House Accommodation in Aviemore near Inverness Scotland - Dell Druie Guest House (http://www.delldruieguesthouse.com)
MacDonald Hotels - Home Page - Macdonald UK Hotels, Short Breaks and Holidays (http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/)

Stirling & Perth

Travelodge – Travelodge (http://www.travelodge.co.uk)

Maps and directions

Multimap.com - Worldwide map search, route finder and travel directions - powered by Multimap (http://www.multimap.com/)
Scottish Tourist Board - Ski Travel Scotland - The Nevis Range, Glencoe, Glenshee, Cairngorm and The Lecht Ski Centres (http://ski.visitscotland.com/travel)

A brochure can requested from the Scottish Tourist Board at the following address - Brochure Register (http://ski.visitscotland.com/register/brochure-form)

[phil]

Excellent post Reily ! I will certainly keep it in mind. I live in Meath, so getting to Larne would be easy enough.

How would you compare Scotish versus skiing in the Alps ? And how do the costs, like a 3 day ski pass compare, more places in mainland europe charge around the €100 mark for 3 days.

[Brian]

I never knew you could ski in Scotland. 3,000 feet is about 1,000m if I remember correctly, I can't think you can compare the snow in Scotland to the snow in say Andorra or in Switzerland.

[Riley]

The Lecht ski centre in Scotland is opening on Friday for the first skiing of the season.

This is the first non-glacial snow skiing resort in Europe to open for the 09' season..........and it's only October!!! :)

See :: Winterhighland // Scottish Snow & Mountain Sports // Reachigher at Winterhighland 2008 (http://winterhighland.com)

Brian - Scotland wouldn't of course compare to the Alps. It would however compare favourably when it's fully open to Andorra.

Below are some photos from last season:

Glenshee (12-Jan-08)

:: Winterhighland // Glenshee // Saturday 12th January 2008 (http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/pix/pixalbum.php?pix_id=406)

Cairngorm (02-May-08)

:: Winterhighland // CairnGorm Mountain // Friday 2nd May 2008 (http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/pix/pixalbum.php?pix_id=481)

Cairngorm (17-Apr-08)

:: Winterhighland // CairnGorm Mountain // Thursday 17th April 2008 (http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/pix/pixalbum.php?pix_id=472)

[Riley]

Below is an approximate costing per person for a weekend skiing in Scotland based on four adults travelling by car from Dublin:

Fuel (Fuel consumption based on family sized Diesel) - €20.00
Ferry (Belfast to Stranraer, Stenaline) - €71.12
Twin Room in Perth, Friday (3* Travelodge) - €15.00
Twin Room in Aviemore, Saturday (4* MacDonald Hotel) - €60.00
Two Day Full Area Lift Pass (Cairngorm) - €68.75

Total cost including accommodation, transport, and lift pass is approximately €234.87.

NB\ If booking the ferry with Stenaline it normally works out cheaper booking on the UK website and paying in GBP rather than booking on the the Republic of Irelands site and paying in euro.

[tomas]

There is a bit of a write up about it today on RTÉ's website : RTÉ Travel: Skiing in Scotland (http://www.rte.ie/travel/2008/1114/skiinginscotland.html)
All has changed.
It started 20 years ago with a massive investment on Nevis Range, just north of Fortwilliam, which ushered in a bluff new world for Scottish skiing in 1989. Glencoe, Glenshee, the Lecht and Cairngorm followed the chairlift to the modern skiing world. Scotland became the cheapest, most accessible and best fun skiing option for beginners.
Scotland has had a dismal snow record in recent years. Nevis offers the best prospects, and has the added attraction of some of the most spectacular views in the northwest.
The highest course, at 2000 feet, has an average maximum depth of two metres of snow for 215 days between November and May. This gives Nevis Range an extended season well into April.
http://dynamic.rte.ie/0001dbe8-150.jpgThere is still some way to go. The Alps it ain't. The only one of the four centres which can really be called a 'resort' is Cairngorm with the nearby town of Aviemore providing plenty of year-round accommodation and activities.

[Riley]

Article on Scottish Skiing - Thursday 12-Feb-09

"Ski+board’s editor Arnie Wilson hit the jackpot when he returned to the Scottish highlands this week.

My visit was the result of a request from Bernie Weichsel, a prominent member of America’s ski industry who runs ski shows in Denver, Boston and Minneapolis who had always wanted to visit Scotland.

The last time I skied at Aviemore (http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/resorts/resortintro.asp?intContactID=45422) it was in fairly atrocious conditions. But when Bernie, the founder of Ski USA, wanted to round off a trip to the Alps with his first visit to the Highlands, I was keen to help. For good measure we unexpectedly recruited John Bennett, Chairman of the Edinburgh-based Ski Independence (http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/logclickthrough.asp?strTargetURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww% 2Eski%2Di%2Ecom%2F) tour operation as our chauffeur and guide! I’d contacted John for any advice he could give us and to my delight he offered to drive us to Glenshee (http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/resorts/resortintro.asp) and Cairngorm in his rather smart Alfa Romeo.

I was staggered by the grandeur of the highlands. We had perfect conditions – blue skies, stunning scenery and excellent snow. At Glenshee, the largest ski area in Scotland, they have translated all the signposting into Gaelic. They certainly didn’t need their snowmaking during our visit, but one couple made good use of some snowmaking equipment as a picnic spot.

At Cairngorm a near-perfect day on some really impressive slopes was enhanced with a haggis lunch at the Ptarmigan restaurant at the top of the funicular. Verdict from Bernie “Astonishingly good. I had no idea skiing in Scotland would be so impressive.” Even John Bennett was excited by how good the skiing had been. “I hadn’t skied at Aviemore for 15 years and this time it’s been a revelation. I’m not about to abandon North America or the Alps, but it’s been wonderful to see the Scottish product at its best.”

My verdict - it was so good I am pinching myself. I am scared to go back now because I fear we caught it in a rare week of near perfection. As we started our drive back to Edinburgh, Bernie was so carried away with the grandeur of the mountains that he said: “Look over there. That peak looks just like Big Sky, Montana.” Praise indeed!

[osulljp]

Riley,

Great info you provide in this thread. Often wondered about Scotland and might give a weekend there a try sometime. Your post is a great starting point. Thanks

John

[ClaireBear]

Just to prove that it's possible to ski late in Scotland, have a peak at this article about CairnGorm Mountain in Scotland. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8657311.stm

And they think that they can remain open until June if there are enough people using the mountain. :D

[Riley]

Hi All,

The Scottish ski season is in full swing.

All five ski resorts are now open for 2011\12 with most of the areas open. Some areas are still being dug out but should be prepared in the next few days.

Conditions are ideal for a couple of days away between Christmas and New Year......Happy Sliding :)

http://www.winterhighland.info/publicreports/displaypic.php?id=19675,2793#start (http://www.winterhighland.info/publicreports/displaypic.php?id=19675,2793#start)

CAIRNGORM MOUNTAIN - JUST TO GET YOU IN THE MOOD - YouTube

www.winterhighland.com (http://www.winterhighland.com/)

[paddymore]

Hi all,

Galway guy here living in Aviemore for the past 9 years or so. Great spot year-round for an outdoorsy holiday, with a real ski resort vibe in the winter. Good start to the season - west coast centres have seen the best of the snow so far, but to have most parts of all 5 resorts open with good conditions this time of year is great. Plenty of lower altitude XC on the go here in the forests around Aviemore - one of the local shop owners cuts tracks in the forest when snow is low enough - great alternative if stormbound up high or a training session before work.

Good options to get here via Edinburgh (Dublin & knock) or Glasgow too I think. Handiest for Aviemore actually would be Belfast - Inverness (40 mins to Aviemore). Plenty of other options.
Plenty of conditions resources etc already mentioned in the thread but if anyone wants any specific info just ask. I'll pop in through the season with some pics and reports
Cheers
barry