 Poster: A snowHead
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The only sustainable future I can see for Cairngorm is to de-couple the Funicular from the skiing infrastructure and return the management to a not for profit community sports group, supported by volunteers.
Trying to make money out of Scottish skiing doesn’t work.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Looks like it's worth a go for a probably-final hurrah this end week & weekend, Westwards at least. Cairngorm also seems to have had a fair bit, though Glenshee's reporting that it's all blown away there...
Coe and Nevis have had fresh falls in the last few days, today and maybe overnight, then predicting dry and increasingly sunny & warming with winds dropping by the weekend. Looks useable on their FB pages. 
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Nice to meet up with Grizzler and Mr Grizzler at the mighty Coe.
Heavy snow this morning then rain. Got to love Scottish skiing 
Only really main basin open and visibility poor but the snow is good and as always, surely the friendliest place in the world to ski. Lots of great skiers boarders and at least 8 telemarketers on the hill today.
Lively atmosphere in the cafe as the Grand National is about to run. Looking forward to tomorrow.
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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'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Cairngorm needs to pull its finger out.
Attach a long trailer to a pisterbully and drag skiers up the hill for £2-5 a ride.
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A further problem....2 million quid's worth of Snow Factory equipment was bought (with public funding) to cover the lower slopes with snow that could be manufactured in above-zero temperatures.
This was to help guarantee access to the one drag lift (the M1poma) that could be used (instead of the train) to get people to the top from the middle station of the train.
A decent enough plan - and there was a time, early season where they'd covered a huge area of the lower slopes with manufactured snow.
But then the Snow Factory kit broke down - never to work again this season.
The whole debacle has cost the local economy millions in lost income - and businesses like ski hire shops have gone bust....It's just awful 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
| Attach a long trailer to a pisterbully and drag skiers up the hill for £2-5 a ride. |
According to FB, e.g. 7 April, they were actually operating lifts up, or "shuttle-ing" people up to mid-mountain and Coire Cas in a "tracked ATV" , "subject to demand" - no fee was mentioned. I don't know if they're still doing it, though it reported to be popular. Maybe there wasn't enough demand?
But as for the Snow Factory cost and subsequent failure... Debacle doesn't even come near, does it? Unbelievable!
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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.
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Minibus shuttle from the car park up to the M1 and Corrie Cas ?
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Thing is it’s now unusable with kids as M1 impossible to get kids up (I can get my 6yo up on my leg but that’s prob an exception) and even car park t not exactly easy for little ones. Utter shambles.
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You know it makes sense.
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@mountainaddict, do you reckon there would still be any snow around over the May Day bank holidays? My wife has always talked about doing X country (which I really don't fancy) but I think she might enjoy some ski touring, so was wondering about a last min trip up to the Highlands with the dogs.
She'd have to hire skis + skins, assuming somewhere would still be open then??
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Glencoe is still operating and there is enough for touring if you're willing to carry a bit.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Cairngorm has officially just announced that it is now closed for the season 
Glencoe are presumably closing after the Easter weekend (saying "6 days to go" on FB). Yet again, the last man standing...
Also on Glencoe FB is a nice vid of skiing off the back of Nevis Range - so possibilities there, maybe? (Though they have also today announced that they are officially closed for snow sports.)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
| mountainaddict, do you reckon there would still be any snow around over the May Day bank holidays? |
Based on past experience at Cairngorm & Glencoe, I would say yes...BUT it all hinges on the weather (of course); how keen you are to carry the skis to the snow line (currently 20-30 mins at Cairngorm but could be a fair bit longer by May Day); and how easily pleased you are just to get some hard-earned turns in.
There's currently about 350 metres of vertical available at both Cairngorm and Glencoe - so I'd say you'd be probably/possibly(??) be looking at at least a couple of hundred metres vertical (possibly more) by then. Don't hold me responsible if all the snow is gone by then though!
The Ciste Gully at Cairngorm can also usually be relied on to retain late season snow for touring - though (in parts) you can be skiing down listening to the sound of the rushing mountain stream beneath the Snow....
There are also some fairly mellow and very scenic skiing descents, that generally hold the snow as late as June, over the back of the Cairngorm ski area. Go straight over behind the top of the Ptarmigan Tow, heading slightly left, and you'll not go wrong.
Nevis Range would probably have some snow in Snowgoose Gully, on the Summit Run and in the Back Corries in early May - but we've never ski toured there after the lifts have closed to try it out for ourselves.
Ski touring's just a totally different day out. Like me and Mrs MA, you might love it and find it really rewarding. It's great to be up there with the place to yourself when the lifts are shut.
Not sure if touring kit hire could be an issue. Best bet on that front could be Braemar Mountain Sports in Aviemore, which rents touring stuff, at least in the depths of winter. Not cheap though - I would think about £40 a day for boots, skis & skins...
Readers' tip: If you do go for it, using hire kit, take loads of Compeed anti-blister patches - the boots can rub on ascents...
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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* Day 1 = Dec 1st, 2018.
* Day last = Apr 21st, 2019.
Just about the worst ski season in Scotland's history.
Several months of no natural snowfall.
Cairngorm registered its least skiers since records began.
Snowtrain was a disaster.
Snowfactories seem to have made little difference to the trails at the resorts.
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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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| mountainaddict wrote: |
A further problem....2 million quid's worth of Snow Factory equipment was bought (with public funding) to cover the lower slopes with snow that could be manufactured in above-zero temperatures.
This was to help guarantee access to the one drag lift (the M1poma) that could be used (instead of the train) to get people to the top from the middle station of the train.
A decent enough plan - and there was a time, early season where they'd covered a huge area of the lower slopes with manufactured snow.
But then the Snow Factory kit broke down - never to work again this season.
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I don't know if it's the case, but from what I've read the reason for the Snow Factory kit at Cairngorm breaking down is that the water supply which comes from natural streams on the peaty ground has so much entrained material/silt in it that it keeps blocking the inlet filters? If that's the case it makes you wonder why they didn't foresee that when assessing the suitability of the Snow Factory kit for that location. Also begs the question of how the Lecht and Glencoe seem to be able to operate their Snow Factory kit successfully in what would appear to be similar terrain?
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@Alastair Pink, presumably they put a pre filter in or something similiar and clean it regularly!!
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@kitenski, You might very well think that, but as to why that would be beyond the competency of Cairngorm management I couldn't possibly comment..... 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
* Day 1 = Dec 1st, 2018.
* Day last = Apr 21st, 2019.
Just about the worst ski season in Scotland's history.
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Glenshee might be close in numbers, but in terms of snow and skiable days, 1963/64 still tops the league of shame!
| Whitegold wrote: |
| Several months of no natural snowfall. |
Usual Whitegold stuff and nonsense.
| Whitegold wrote: |
| Cairngorm registered its least skiers since records began. |
That I'll give you. The worst since formal mechanised uplift begun with the White Lady Chairlift in December 1961. However it has to be said that has absolutely nothing to do with the snow cover or lack of snow cover on CairnGorm Mountain and everything to do with CML.
| Whitegold wrote: |
| Snowtrain was a disaster. |
See above. To expand it is increasingly clear the funicular was a disaster full stop, and not just it's current closure!
| Whitegold wrote: |
| Snowfactories seem to have made little difference to the trails at the resorts. |
Robin and Wren Magic Carpets at the Lecht were both open over 100 days this season (and there were numerous days it was one or the other so the actual number of skiing days is higher than this). At Glencoe Old Mugs Alley was skiable to the Plateau Cafe (and Cliffhanger) a lot more than would have been the case without the snow factory and despite the farce with the double unit on CairnGorm, had it not been there the days of operation of the Carpark Tow would likely have been either or very close to 0!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@mountainaddict, hats off to you. That's what I call dedicated
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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.
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great stuff!mountainaddict,
hats (or helmets) off indeed!
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just back from Nevis Range having delivered another snow factory, looking good for next season.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Winter's on its way - let's hope it's a good 'un...
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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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1 degree on the summit of nevis last night. gotta love mark the back corries.
Heres to an EPIC Scottish season............ 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Glenshee have plans to install a TechnoAlpin Snowfactory to make snow to supplement the natural snow cover. These units have already been used successfully at the Lecht, Nevis Range and Glencoe, showing the benefits they bring when the correct model and installation location is selected Well done Glenshee! I presume Glenshee will mainly or exclusively have to fund this themselves (unlike Cairngorm where HIE paid almost £1 million of public money for the full cost of a large Snowfactory installation which due to known problems with particles in the burn water supply blocking filters and the unit's inappropriate location has not been successful. Strange how HIE seem to throw public money at Cairngorm (which is suffering because of bad decisions made by HIE in the past e.g building the funicular, lack of maintenance, leasing the mountain to Natural Retreats etc) while the other Scottish resorts have to resource infrastructure improvements themselves.....
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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'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@larry1950, I think you will find that Glenshee is in Perthshire and the equivalent of HIE for them would be Scottish Enterprise, rather than the local authority. At the end of the day the result is the same.
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@Ski lots, All the Glenshee lifts look to be in Grampian to me, going off OpenStreetMap. The road sign is level with the southernmost end of the car park from memory.
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@Ski lots, @rjs, Is correct, the border is at the top of the hill as you reach the car parks from the Spittal of Glenshee, I have passed it many times, I think they have had some funding from somewhere in the past, maybe from Scottish Enterprise, they were given funding for the Cairnwell cafe possibly from the old tourist board.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@larry1950, i’m afraid there is no such thing a Grampian Council. In the same way as there is no such thing as Strathclyde Council anymore. Scottish Enterprise would be the appropriate funding body for the area. Any sign would be an old one.
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Scottish enterprise is the provider of government funding/grants for all areas outside Highlands and Islands (numerous council areas covered by Highlands and Islands enterprise- HIE). This was driven by historical reasons when all of the local grant enterprise areas combined but HIE did not. Glenshee is in Aberdeenshire as is the Lecht, albeit are very close to boundary areas (Perthshire and Moray=Moray is covered by HIE hence why some HIE funding may have been provided).
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FAQ
- but still upright; ish... 
