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Is skiing in Scotland on its last legs?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Thoughts on this article?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/articles/scottish-ski-resorts-hit-back-at-claims-that-climate-change/
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@südtirolistdeutsch, my perception, from afar, and not having skied in Scotland since ?1996? is that what I read is that some centres are actually doing really well, based off local-ish loyalty, clever management and sage investment.

Scotland’s big problem has never been lack of snow, but an excess of snow that makes durable pistes (man made does rather well) and a grotesque excess of wind and thus drifting snow.

Plenty of snow, just in the wrong places.
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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?
Definitely not on its last legs! (Although the mismanagement at Cairngorm by CML/Natural Retreats etc. means that I'll not be going there unless and until things improve). Madeye-Smiley
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@Alastair Pink, +1
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
What a joke, making predictions for 50 years time from now.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
If climate change moves the course of the gulf stream, it'll get so cold we could be skiing at low levels in the trees! Be like Hokkaido! Laughing
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Ive looked at skiing in scotland, they are all a pain in the back bottom to get to.
9+ hours of travel if driving.
Compared to driving 30mins, hoping on a plane & being in the alps in less than 5 hours if you inc. being at airport 2 hours before boarding a flight.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Yip - which means all the more sliding for us if you cant get up here - whilst we look enviously on at you nipping across the channel while we have a 9 hour drive to get to Dover....

swings and roundabouts...
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Mr.Egg wrote:
Ive looked at skiing in scotland, they are all a pain in the back bottom to get to.
9+ hours of travel if driving.
Compared to driving 30mins, hoping on a plane & being in the alps in less than 5 hours if you inc. being at airport 2 hours before boarding a flight.


Yep, we know...heard it all before!

TBH for me it's a maximum of 9 hours (I'd hope for less) driving but I've driven, used the train and even flew once. Unless your close enough to go at the drop of a hat, skiing in Scotland is about visiting a place very different to the Alps, soaking in the wilderness and just enjoying the what this country has to offer!
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Mr.Egg wrote:
Ive looked at skiing in scotland, they are all a pain in the back bottom to get to.
9+ hours of travel if driving.
Compared to driving 30mins, hoping on a plane & being in the alps in less than 5 hours if you inc. being at airport 2 hours before boarding a flight.


It seems a bit odd comparing driving to Scotland v flying to The Alps?

However, I take your point that its not on your doorstep unless you are one of us lucky few.

So there is a simple answer - move to Scotland.

With the oodles of money you have made selling your Londion/SE property, you could retire, buy somewhere nice as your main home, plus a wee bolthole near a ski resort Very Happy

Sorted !!
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
nelly0168 wrote:
Mr.Egg wrote:
Ive looked at skiing in scotland, they are all a pain in the back bottom to get to.
9+ hours of travel if driving.
Compared to driving 30mins, hoping on a plane & being in the alps in less than 5 hours if you inc. being at airport 2 hours before boarding a flight.


It seems a bit odd comparing driving to Scotland v flying to The Alps?

However, I take your point that its not on your doorstep unless you are one of us lucky few.

So there is a simple answer - move to Scotland.

With the oodles of money you have made selling your Londion/SE property, you could retire, buy somewhere nice as your main home, plus a wee bolthole near a ski resort Very Happy

Sorted !!


i dont live in London or the SE.
so no millions to be made for me Sad
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
One of advantages of living north. From EDI I can be in Les Gets in 6/7 hours via GVA or Glenshee in 90 minutes. Like tomorrow, WFH wink

But it's a bit of a beat up really. No matter how drunk you are Scottish skiing is not comparable other than you are on skis, on snow - usually. Variability of weather and conditions is indeed an issue and the consistency of snow is, ummm, inconsistent. Much like the rest of the world really, inc. the Alps - wasn't it last year we were scratching around for snow most of the season.

But anyway, they need to sell papers....
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I am close enough to go skiing in Scotland at the drop of a hat and I think it is great.

Where else in UK is it normal to send your small child out on a mountain all day in a blizzard and -20 windchill Laughing
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

But anyway, they need to sell papers....

Click bait.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Maybe in 50yrs but who knows, maybe not. I'll be surprised if I'm still alive in 50yrs time never mind still skiing so I'm not bovvered.

It's hit and miss and has been for many a year. In the mid 90s we would plan a boys weekend skiing in Scotland. This worked well for 3yrs when in the 4th yr there was (wait for it)................. no snow Shocked . So instead of turning left on to the M6 we turned right and drove to Chamonix.

That said if I want to ski in Scotland I can leave home at 5am and be at Glencoe just after noon.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I visited Glenshee last summer. If ever a.place.needed a lick of paint. Sad to see really.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
After cutting my teeth, and breaking my thumb, at Hillend, I spent my early teens peering into the wind on the white lady or the tiger to spot snow amongst the heather, and owe a lot of my ability, as well as masochistic tendencies toward inclement weather, to Cairngorm and Glenshee!

However I'm back on the other side of the border now, just over an hour from Manchester airport and while I wistfully reminisce about the good old days, I've not made it back since the 80s. I sincerely hope there are many years left in the ski industry up there as it's the reason the sport was accessible to me.
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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?
@cameronphillips2000, if you're implying that skiing in Scotland is on its last legs because the base buildings at Glenshee need a lick of paint, then perhaps you need to think again.

They've managed to invest in two new chairlifts in the last few years, with another one (possibly two) following in the near future. Plus a completely new shop building, refurbished café, new website... While holding lift pass prices at the same level for several years.

I only started skiing in Scotland in 2011, and over the last 7 years I think the skiing experience has improved significantly - especially at Glenshee and Glencoe. Making a judgement about a ski centre being on its last legs after a summer visit seems ridiculous to me.

And if that wasn't what you were implying, then your post was just irrelevant.

FWIW I think the article is quite a positive one, just with a misleading headline. Many of the facts quoted in the text directly contradict the title Laughing
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südtirolistdeutsch wrote:
Thoughts on this article?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/articles/scottish-ski-resorts-hit-back-at-claims-that-climate-change/


W@nk fluff piece : journalist clearly recycling news desk stories / press releases and never been north of Watford.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:

Although the mismanagement at Cairngorm by CML/Natural Retreats etc. means that I'll not be going there unless and until things improve

oh, I'm going to Cairngorm on purpose... to support the local businesses that will get screwed as a result of incompetence of other businesses... the Skiing Doo, Old Bridge Inn, bike shops etc.
but there's no way I'll be going to that retail monstrosity stuck on the side of a mountain
the £7 ticket for a down lift (that's actually a season ticket) was plenty of expenditure in that retail emporium

if skiing in Scotland is on it's last legs, then it'll be because of certain businesses, not climate change
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Skiing in Scotland is thriving. Shame there’s no cash to invest more in modern lifts and roads that can cope when demand is there. Forecast for the coming week is for tonnes of snow up the east so Glenshee, Cairngorm and the Lecht are going to be very busy over the coming weeks... months even. Off course, such is the nature of it all, that a thaw will come and purge the snow at some point, but that’s when gully skiing comes into its own. Hell, with the forecast, the Pentlands will hopefully offer some good touring next week. Not going to read the article, waste of time, just another lazy article probably. Scottish skiing is well alive, for any doubters, watch the forecasts, dress appropriately and give it a go.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
denfinella wrote:
@cameronphillips2000, if you're implying that skiing in Scotland is on its last legs because the base buildings at Glenshee need a lick of paint, then perhaps you need to think again.


Just don't mention the toilets. Shocked Shocked Shocked

The scene from Trainspotting comes to mind anytime I have to venture in there. My 10 year old has an acute sense of smell and was gagging when we were there a couple of weeks ago. They really are the worst toilets in Scotland. Toofy Grin Toofy Grin Toofy Grin
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
nelly0168 wrote:
Mr.Egg wrote:
Ive looked at skiing in scotland, they are all a pain in the back bottom to get to.
9+ hours of travel if driving.
Compared to driving 30mins, hoping on a plane & being in the alps in less than 5 hours if you inc. being at airport 2 hours before boarding a flight.


It seems a bit odd comparing driving to Scotland v flying to The Alps?

However, I take your point that its not on your doorstep unless you are one of us lucky few.

So there is a simple answer - move to Scotland.

With the oodles of money you have made selling your Londion/SE property, you could retire, buy somewhere nice as your main home, plus a wee bolthole near a ski resort Very Happy

Sorted !!


Till the SNP drive you out as happened to one of my recent clients that moved to Scotland to be near their daughter & Scottish husband, the locals were friendly apart from a handful of SNP supporters who made things so uncomfortable that they moved back to England.
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@Gaza, yes the toilets are awful. But they're owned by Aberdeenshire council, so Glenshee aren't to blame.

Glenshee have even offered to take over their ownership and maintenance to address the problem, but the council apparently said no!
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@denfinella, That has been the same excuse for at least thirty years.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@larry1950, if true though, it's still a valid excuse.

There are (if I remember correctly) alternative toilets which are owned by Glenshee: they're smaller but cleaner.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Heard in the toilet block on the Aviemore campsite 1976 ...
"You can always trust a man who tucks his vest inside his knickers"

The toilet block was crowded out with campers trying to stay warm at new years eve.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Why would anyone camp there at New Year or any other time of year come to that? That campsite is so expensive it's far cheaper in most hotels around there.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
cameronphillips2000 wrote:
I visited Glenshee last summer. If ever a.place.needed a lick of paint. Sad to see really.


Are you sure you were in the right place? All of the buildings look really well maintained, smart and pristine and certainly not in need of any painting. Sure most but not all of the 23 lifts are quite "mature" but they do the job most of the time.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I've returned to Glenshee skiing for the first time in 40 years & to be honest I've been really rather impressed. The only thing I found that made it feel dated was the typeface used on the building signage, but I can live with that.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
[/quote]

Till the SNP drive you out as happened to one of my recent clients that moved to Scotland to be near their daughter & Scottish husband, the locals were friendly apart from a handful of SNP supporters who made things so uncomfortable that they moved back to England.[/quote]

Seems legit
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Yesterday I was at the Lecht and was interested to see the Snow Factory installation that they've recently got there (on loan I believe, previously it was on loan at Cairngorm). The equipment fits in a standard ISO container. Here's a short video I took:


http://youtube.com/v/z1DYwmz3DWU
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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?
@tangowaggon, Always a few back bottoms wherever you live, Scotland no exception.

Seems odd that the parents were "driven out" (© Daily Express) but not the daughter though? Very Happy
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@Alastair Pink, Had one at Glencoe a couple of weeks ago too. Maybe it's on tour!!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@nelly0168, The Lecht's snow factory came from Cairngorm, which had it in December/January. Glencoe have their own one on trial for the whole season.
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tangowaggon wrote:

Till the SNP drive you out as happened to one of my recent clients that moved to Scotland to be near their daughter & Scottish husband, the locals were friendly apart from a handful of SNP supporters who made things so uncomfortable that they moved back to England.


Uhhhhmmm : Brexit has exposed who the real intolerant nationalists and xenophobes are wink
Unsubstantiated ad-hominen attacks like this amuse me.
They expose the person making the accusation as the narrow minded bigot (45-50% of Scots have voted SNP).
Why make unnecessary political comment on a topic that is about skiing ?

FWIW : the Scottish skiing is great this season.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
yep its an awful place to ski, dont come! (makes more space in the car park Very Happy ) You cant compare alps to Scotland, I live here so can go when the snow comes which is the key part, had brilliant days skiing here and plenty challenges. If you like skiing challenges with very mixed piste, bit of rock ice etc then it can be great fun. If you are looking to find acres and endless km of corduroy and 3ft of powder go elsewhere, but you wont be able to get a pint of real ale and a fried egg and black pudding roll there. Take your pick, simples. Btw with climate change it will likely switch off the north atlantic drift as the artic sea ice will melt decrease salinity and sea water density to prevent the conveyor effect of the oceans (cold sea wate sinks from tropics and returns there as deep sea currents). So we will have weather like canada and russia and 6 ft of fresh powder all year long so stick that up yer bums journalists. Ciao!!
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