 Poster: A snowHead
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Lager, Cairngorm was developed because there was already a road that went as far as Loch Morlich. The original idea was Braeriach, but would have cost loads more. So there you are! It does hold much better snow than Cairngorm.
Incidentally, I was living in Aviemore during most of the extension debate. Locals were not listened to (nearly all of them wanted the ski grounds to be extended and naturally had a vested interest in the local environment), but the powers that be listened more to people from pressure and environmental groups. The local economy wasn't even taken into consideration it seems. Add this to the development of the local airports and the Scottish ski-ing industry died without help from poor snow years.
These interfering outsiders would do well to consider the earlier highland clearances, and look at what's happening now. There are no jobs, the few jobs that exist are unbelievably poorly paid, and people are leaving in their droves.
It's not all the fault of global warming. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Good to see most comments are positive about Glencoe / Scotland. True the snow is not nearly as reliable as yester-year but it is still possible to ski most week-ends.
Ise seems stuck in a rut.
Most years I also do 2 or 3 trips abroad but skiing Scotland is a season activity not an occasional week.
You will be very welcome at Glencoe. There is a train from Glasgow to Bridge of Orchy - hotel & bunkhouse (15 mins to Glencoe skiing) and Fort William about 15 mins to skiing & loads of accommodation.
Agree www.winterhighland.com is best for Scottish info.
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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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I'm always unsurprised by how people ignore reality, there's been a long running thread on this site about where people go skiing. Take a look and you'll discover more people here go to to Canada and the US than Scotland, this bulletin board represets a reasonable cross section of the skiing public in or from the UK I think.
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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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| ise wrote: |
| I'm always unsurprised by how people ignore reality, there's been a long running thread on this site about where people go skiing. Take a look and you'll discover more people here go to to Canada and the US than Scotland, this bulletin board represets a reasonable cross section of the skiing public in or from the UK I think. |
I think if you have a look at people who have lived and worked in Scotland (and some in the north of England) you'd get a very different percentage. Scottish skiing will never attract numbers from the south of the country simply because it's as cheap and quick to jet over to the Alps. With the Eurostar it's as easy and as quick to get to Bourg St Maurice from London as it is to get to Fort William.
Scottish skiing will always primarily be about the local market and there are a great number of locals (and the odd expat  ) who think that the stations in Scotland ought to be supported. NZ can manage to support a much larger number of stations from a smaller population.
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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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| Lager wrote: |
| ... NZ can manage to support a much larger number of stations from a smaller population... |
But it does have some very high mountains 
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brian
brian
Guest
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| ise wrote: |
| I'm always unsurprised by how people ignore reality, there's been a long running thread on this site about where people go skiing. Take a look and you'll discover more people here go to to Canada and the US than Scotland, this bulletin board represets a reasonable cross section of the skiing public in or from the UK I think. |
I think you'll find that most Scots skiers (indigenous and immigrant) ski at least a few days here, conditions allowing, even if they also take a holiday abroad. They're our mountains, if we want to allow limited development on them, what's it got to do with you ?
As easiski mentions, the vast majority of the local highland population, skiing and non-skiing, support the industry.
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So, we agree then, apart from the people who happen to live close it's not been much benefit. That's what I said.
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Surely they're everyone's mountains?
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brian
brian
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If by "live close" you mean all over Scotland then yes, we agree.
I fail to see why anyone should have a problem with Scottish based people exploiting a limited number of Scottish mountains for the benefit of Scottish based people though ?
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I think the protection of exceptional landscapes is a matter of global concern.
The Scottish mountains certainly fall into that category. The prevention of Scottish ski development has only ever affected specific sensitive sites, not the overall scale of the recreation.
I think the recent designation of the Cairngorms as a national park is welcome. The most important thing is that we stablise the climate so that snow continues to fall on them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hi ise,
I think your beeing short sighted to say Scottish skiing is not of benifit. I live in Aberdeen now but moved up from Cambridge when my boss accepted a position here and moved his group up. The fact I was moving to some where I could ski regularly was a very important factor in me moving up here. I ski between 10-20 days a year in Scotland and spend money, in winter, in areas of Scotland that have few industries other than tourism.
Also chatting to people on the slopes you find people from all over Scotland and people up from Northern England. I've even had friends from Cambridge who came up for a long weekend of skiing and had a good time. Its possible as long as you flexible and realise that you might be hillwalking instead.
Cheers
Dave
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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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ise, If I lived in England, especially the south, I wouldn't dream of going to Scotland when the Alps are so close. No one is trying to compare the Alps with Scotland except you. I would choose the Continent for skiing over Scotland, just as I would choose Scotland for skiing against England.
I know loads of folk who like me have been skiing since the 60's. These were the days when London Week-end Ski Club ran buses to the Cairngorms every week-end. The biggest problem was getting through, such was the snow at Drumochter Pass.
Like a great many Scottish skiers, we used to consider ourselves fortunate to be able to ski December to May with the odd continental holiday thrown in and not be confined to the occasional trip abroad. Mind you the snow was reliable but the weather could be really awful - nearly as bad as I experienced in Val d'Isere last season or the no snow year in (I think it was 1971/72) in Austria.
It is only in the past few years that the snow has been so unreliable. I did however manage to ski in Scotland last season in December and in May - with more than a few in between + 1week Les Arcs + 1 week Val d'Isere + few days Les Orres.
As to convenience, I think those in the south of England are closer to the ski slopes of the continent than many Scots are to the Scottish resorts.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| Surely they're everyone's mountains? |
Thanks, I thought if I did it slow it'd start to work. They are indeed, so they got ripped apart for the benefit of a very few.
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You know it makes sense.
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ise, Actually, I was responding to Brian there.
What's been "ripped apart"? The five Scottish ski areas account to a miniscule impact on the Highlands generally. I don't know when you were last on Cairngorm, but substantial restoration work has taken place and its ski area was never expanded into Lurcher's Gully.
Going back to early on in this thread, Scottish skiing was developed to cater for big demand in the 1970s, but climate change has cut usage enormously. There's speculation that Glenshee might close permanently, or be reduced in size.
Cairngorm have announced a reduced lift network this winter, though I guess they might reopen lifts if the snow surprises everyone.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Thu 2-09-04 20:13; edited 1 time in total
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brian
brian
Guest
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David Goldsmith, land ownership is a sensitive and emotive issue but I personally feel that the development or otherwise of Scotland's mountains should be determined by those of us who live here and enjoy them rather than folk from Switzerland, London or the University of Wollamaloo !
I wouldn't support any further expansion of Scottish skiing* as there is plenty of capacity for today's demand.
*a bit of realignment though, perhaps, e.g. a direct chair from the A93 into Coire Fionn at Glenshee.
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Poster: A snowHead
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David Goldsmith, Pity about installing the funicular at Cairngorm otherwise they might have been able to afford opening the other tows.
It's not a ski resort any more but a bus stop for tourists. 
I wouldn't dream of going near the place unless there was nowhere else - yet this used to be my No1.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| brian wrote: |
David Goldsmith, land ownership is a sensitive and emotive issue but I personally feel that the development or otherwise of Scotland's mountains should be determined by those of us who live here and enjoy them rather than folk from Switzerland, London or the University of Wollamaloo !
I wouldn't support any further expansion of Scottish skiing* as there is plenty of capacity for today's demand.
*a bit of realignment though, perhaps, e.g. a direct chair from the A93 into Coire Fionn at Glenshee. |
Sorry, mea culpa, I'd quite forgotten. The ski development in Scotland was funded by a few resourceful local villages running jumble sales, raffles, pub quizzes and a collecting tin for visitors from the city. And of course it's been a massive commercial success, going from strength to strength, providing a fantastic return on the investment and literally several local jobs.
And of course it’s widely accepted that how the environment is treated is a purely local issue, oil exploration is Alaska, deforestation in Nepal and South American rainforests or desertification across Africa being obvious examples of where that's working out quite well.
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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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*** off-topic ***
| ise wrote: |
| desertification across Africa |
Thought I'd get in before the outraged Scots' responses. Recent evidence suggests that desertification may have started to reverse in the Sahel region. See this article for example. Perhaps this has resulted from increased moisture in the atmosphere due to a warming Atlantic, though that's just a guess on my part.
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brian
brian
Guest
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| ise wrote: |
Sorry, mea culpa, I'd quite forgotten. The ski development in Scotland was funded by a few resourceful local villages running jumble sales, raffles, pub quizzes and a collecting tin for visitors from the city. And of course it's been a massive commercial success, going from strength to strength, providing a fantastic return on the investment and literally several local jobs.
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The Scottish Executive says ....
"Skiing has an important role in bringing employment and other economic benefits to rural areas and, in so doing, provides a valuable contribution to the rural economy."
.... but of course you'd know far better based on the evidence of .... ? This messageboard ? Where your friends ski ? Your corns playing up ?
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And of course it’s widely accepted that how the environment is treated is a purely local issue, oil exploration is Alaska, deforestation in Nepal and South American rainforests or desertification across Africa being obvious examples of where that's working out quite well. |
Your carefully thought out, well chosen examples of strikingly similar global situations add considerable weight to your argument. All those flooded out Bangladeshis must curse the day the Lecht were allowed to put up the Harrier poma 
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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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Nice one, brian!
ise, I'm afraid your posting will not be nominated for the Pullitzer Prize. Without being too high-minded we do have a responsibility for being factual, objective and proportionate in what we say on this all-too-powerful medium.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
Nice one, brian!
ise, I'm afraid your posting will not be nominated for the Pullitzer Prize. Without being too high-minded we do have a responsibility for being factual, objective and proportionate in what we say on this all-too-powerful medium. |
Pullitzer Prize? He should take that routine and go visit brian next August. Perrier award winner for sure.
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ise, Stop being so bloody minded!! We're all on this forum because we love and support skiing/ boarding/ sledging if you want! So why dont you stop being so pessimistic/ negative and rude! and be a little more positive!
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| we love and support skiing/ boarding/ sledging if you want! |
Would that be sledging as in what Australian cricketers do to each other (and especially poms), namely heap verbal abuse on them? 
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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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laundryman, Care to find out?
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