 Poster: A snowHead
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Given the incredible amount of snow in Scotland, my wife and I decided to pop over on the ferry from Northern Ireland to see what all the fuss was about. We brought our two kids (3 and 1) along as well as two mates with the vague plan being that my wife and I would take turns skiing with our pals whilst the other parent watched the kids. I also had a half-formed plan of trying to get some skis for the 3 year old to mess about on to see if she liked it.
We got the ferry across from Belfast on 14th at 0730. This was a total rip off (as anyone who has the misfortune to travel between Northern Ireland and Scotland can attest), but when we split the costs up it was manageable.
We decided on Glencoe because it seemed to have good snow and was closest to Cairnryan hence needed least driving to get to.
We booked a self catered cottage in Glencoe village for the weekend. It is called Burn Beag and was absolutely brilliant. This is a major advantage of scottish skiing over the alps. The house was superb and also fantastic value. It was spacious, luxuriously furnished and very well insulated. It also had very nice views of the surrounding mountains. I would definitely stay here again.
We drove past Glencoe ski station on 14th on our way to Glencoe village. The wind was howling and there was driving rain and low cloud as well. Unsurprisingly the access chair was closed so there was no skiing to be had on 14th although we could easily have managed it timewise. The one thing I noticed when we scoped out the ski station is that my plan to supervise the kids was going to be tricky. I suspect you can't get kids up to the ski station on the access chair, but never really got to test the theory.
We woke on Saturday to deteriorating weather conditions. It was windier and rainier and the cloud was lower, so all ski resorts were closed. We went to Oban and Kinlochleven and acted like typical tourists. It was a fun day. This is another advantage of Scottish skiing over the Alps - if you can't ski for whatever reason, you can still pass the time easily.
On Sunday the weather was just as bad so the resorts were all closed until Nevis opened the rope tow mid morning. We thought about getting the gondola up but decided it would be a bit of a rip off for such limited mountain access. Also the thought of trying to keep the kids entertained in a force 5 gale with frequent showers wasn't appealing. We went for a ramble in the hills around Glencoe village instead.
On Monday we planned a half day before getting the ferry home. The forecast was more encouraging so we expected the resorts to open. Sure enough when we got up Glencoe resort was open but the weather was foul. There was driving rain down in Glencoe village and low cloud obscuring the mountain. None of us could muster the enthusiasm to get up the hill for what promised to be a pretty miserable morning of survival skiing. So we just trekked south to catch the early ferry home.
So from our 3 planned days skiing we got none, which was a bit of a disappointment. On the plus side however we still had a great weekend in a beautiful location. The total price per person ended up being about £150 so it was cheap compared to an Alpine expedition. Will we do it again? Almost definitely. On a worst case scenario (i.e. this weekend) we found you can still have a great weekend, so the chance is well worth it.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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monkey, I take it you're a glass half full type of bloke then. 
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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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Mosha Marc, yes. It seems that way! If I lived on the mainland I'd be up most weekends because you don't even have to pay for the ferry.
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monkey, shame about the wind during your trip, it has been more of a problem than usual this season. Keep an eye on the forecast for low winds if you fancy trying again in the coming weeks.
Our kids both had their first taste of skiing during a long weekend trip to Nevis Range in March 4yrs ago, at which time our youngest was 3yrs old. He was a bit young for it, but had a good go. The gondola ride up and beginner runs near the top station are ideal for youngsters, as is the nice cafe and swing park! It actually rained during that trip but the kids didn't really care, they had fun.
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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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You were particularly Unlucky there. Usually come March the days start to get more settled. It's pretty rare for the place to be closed for 3 days in a row in a normal season. Unfortunately this is not a normal season! The same southwesterly pattern has stuck for over 3 months now with only a few days break before the next storms start rolling through. Come back again, you won't be as unlucky the next time, if can you want to arrange only a few days in advance for a weather window (not always possible with youngsters I know)
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balernoStu, thanks for the beta - i was thinking Nevis looked like a good place to bring the kids. Next time...
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^ good on you for making the most of it.
when life deals you lemons then make lemonade
there is no bigger fan of scottish skiing than myself. however it is a tough sell for those coming from further afield who need to pre-book before seeing an accurate weekend weather forecast... as mentioned this season has been windier (and snowier) than average - especially over the weekends!
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At least more of the distillery tours and other tourist stuff starts opening up during March so there's still plenty to do.
There's plenty of nice low level loch walks you can do if the weather's bad higher up too.
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