 Poster: A snowHead
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
| GreenDay wrote: |
| A 10 mile gondola from Aviemore? Not really. |
Quite, that's not practical. However what would be practical is a gondola from Glenmore Forest up to the Cairngorm day lodge. It would also mean people could get to Cairngorm ski area straight away without having to wait for the steep access road to be cleared of snow after a snowstorm, which can often take quite some time. |
Yep, I have lost count of the times my skiing up there has been screwed up by the vehicular access problems.
You see what an access lift does well when you go to Glencoe or the ability with Glenshee to view the snowgates online.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If Scottish ski areas are to remain financially viable, it's essential that they develop their summer offering, extend snowmaking, and rationalise lift layouts to improve the ratio of skier capacity vs. running costs.
Replacing the funicular and some of the current drag lifts with two chairlifts would be:
- better for skiers
- better for the environment
- less costly in the medium/long term
- better in terms of visual impact
- neutral for summer visitors
...compared with repairing the funicular. Repairing the funicular at great cost is a waste of money given that the ski area isn't really financially viable even with a working funicular!
I'm also in favour of the Glenmore gondola idea, along with mountain bike trails being developed alongside it.
Ideally also removing the car park in Coire Cas and its access road (which would become a piste in winter), though that mightn't be so popular with walkers.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Just watched Fergus Ewing on Politics Scotland - totally useless. I have had the misfortune of dealing with him in a number of capacities. He likes to describe himself as a local businessman - he was once a solicitor. I remember having to describe a new government digital development to him. I felt I was in an episode of Yes Minister. “How fascinating, and who approved this? You did Minister.” Respectful laughter all around. Likes to talk big - total lack of understanding
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Quote: |
| Likes to talk big - total lack of understanding |
Friend of a friend used to work closely with a certain former Mayor of London - and has reported on very similar scenarios...Plus meetings where he'd agree something at the start of it - but not have a clue what by the end of it... 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Rabbie wrote: |
| @Ricklovesthepowder, Actually cheaper to repair the funicular than to remove it. |
If you read the Full Business Case, with a bit of background knowledge you'll quickly find this is not the case. The FBC quotes £16.2m to repair the Funicular viaduct vs £17m to remove, there is approximately £4.5m in associated spending going alongside the Funicular viaduct repairs.
In the FBC options appraisal there is a very important clarification to the option 1a which is removal of the Funicular: "This assumes that the operating company ceases trading".
A permanent cessation of trading by CairnGorm Mountain Ltd or successors as per the Section 50 Planning Agreement requires full removal and reinstatement of the ski area.
It is little wonder the contracts were signed before the Full Business Case saw the light of day, it was not even subjected to parliamentary scrutiny, nor were Audit Scotland able to assess it. The reason is that quite simply, it would have been shredded - it only had to hold together to dupe the minister with a simplistic summary that would have gone something like this:
"Sign off on us spending £16m and you will have a thing, if you don't it will cost £17m to have nothing."
There was a £62m squirrel in there to in the form of a 2 stage funitel!
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