 Poster: A snowHead
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From the North Midlands if we left on Sunday afternoon/evening?
Thinking of doing it this season, where would be a good place to stay, i heard the lifts are away from the hotels. Do they do shuttles or is there plenty of parking and can you buy passes in advance to save time.
Lastly, equipment hire, is it in the town or at the bottom of the lifts.
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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At that time of day, I'd reckon on 8hrs. You can do Chamionix in 12.
The town of Aviemore is the nearest to Cairngorm with any activity. A couple of good bars with decent beer when I was last there (6yrs ago?) and possibly even a nightclub.
Some hotels but we booked S/C in a converted Doctors Surgery called "The Bothy". V. Cumfy.
When we wnet to Glenshee we stayed in Braemar. A lot quieter.
Plenty of car parking as I recall.
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brian
brian
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up4it, don't know but Aviemore is about 2 hours from Edinburgh or Glasgow if that helps.
Cairngorm is about 10 miles from Aviemore and there are buses. Plenty of parking up the mountain but if you're late on a busy weekend you might have to park in Coire na Ciste and get shuttled round to the Funicular. Midweek it'll be nice and quiet.
If you're only planning on skiing Cairngorm then you could come up on the sleeper, there are cheap-ish fares available and it saves you a night's hotel at either end:
http://www.firstgroup.com/scotrail/content/caledoniansleeper/index.php
If you're coming for a few days and bringing the car (and snow is half decent) then Nevis Range is about an hour's drive from Aviemore and well worth a visit too.
Equipment hire is available in Aviemore and up on the mountain as well.
Cairngorm is meant to be starting online ticketing this season I think but it's not there yet. There is somewhere in Aviemore you can get tix in advance, I'll try and find that out.
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halfhand, aa route finder says it's 394 miles and 6hrs 48 mins, i was hoping in reality it may be quicker.
French Alps in 12 hours from the Midlands? It takes 4 hours to get to Dover, you would need to leave 5 hours to ensure you make the crossing. 9 hours the other side surely. I reckon it would be double the travelling time of Scotland at the very best.
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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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II, I have a fast car with Cyclops. 
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up4it,
I'm going to ski Cairngorm tomorrow a.m. and it will take me about 2 hrs 30 mins. It is about the same from here to Manchester.
So yes, I am sure for you, in reality it will be quicker. Once you're past Preston, on the M6 / M74 there is no traffic until just south of Glasgow / or Edinburgh (via the A701) even at the height of the rush hour. On a sunday evening you can cruise quickly just keeping an eye out for the fuzz.
As for the Alps, I drove to St Jean D'Arves from Northamptonshire two years ago. Left 4.30 a.m. , arrived in resort 10.30 p.m. OK, it was horrendously busy on the French side and had to don snow chains to get up the hill to the resort but that still made 17 hours travelling after adjusting for the clocks. 
Never again.
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up4it,
If you are leaving on Sunday I am assuming you will be skiing mon-tue and possibly later, I would not worry about either parking or buying lift tickets as the ski areas are usually quiet outside weekends. Indeed you may want to change where you wish to ski last minute as conditions may vary greatly between areas in the west and aviemore. (Though Glencoe is no longer open midweek  )
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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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up4it, Don't believe it. Factor in petrol stops, driver rests,bog breaks etc.. You'll be lucky to break 8 hrs.
Done Warrington to Aviemore and Warrington to Chamonix. Admittedly left at 9pm in the evening and drove all night, 4 drivers. On Le Shuttle by 12:30, pulled in to the car park at Chamonix at 10am local time.
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| halfhand wrote: |
up4it, Don't believe it. Factor in petrol stops, driver rests,bog breaks etc.. You'll be lucky to break 8 hrs.
Done Warrington to Aviemore and Warrington to Chamonix. Admittedly left at 9pm in the evening and drove all night, 4 drivers. On Le Shuttle by 12:30, pulled in to the car park at Chamonix at 10am local time. |
Warrington to the tunnel in 3.5 hours is pretty good going. 80mph average; I suppose it's m'way all the way, so why not, at that time of day?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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From Tunbridge Wells, in a 4*4 Panda - it used to take me 11 hours - complete with skis and bike on the roof. If you are going to go, do go by car, 'cos very often if you can't ski Cairngorm, you can at Nevis Range or Glenshee or the Lecht. Tuning your car radio to 'Ski FM' will give you snow reports, lifts running etc.
Have fun.
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plenty of options for accomodation in village (10-ish miles from the lifts) plus a campsite, Hostel, and hostel-accomodation at Glenmore Lodge (national mountaineering training centre) in Glenmore (2 miles from lifts)
equipment hire both in aviemore and on the hill - most of the mountain shops in/around the village do it (though a couple will be specialised in touring / tele kit)
Depending on when you're going up though hire may not be available - certainly won't be available on the hill this weekend, not sure about the shops.
Best to hire in village on busy days
Passes could be bought the day/night before in the village last year (just outside train platform) - there's supposed to be a new ticketing system online this year to do the same - suspect they will sell from the village again though (pre-bought is definitely worth it - on good days queues can be big on the hill)
best pubs in town - The Cairn, Old Bridge, Mambos
If you stay in the village there will be a hop on / hop off bus operating up and down to the hill (ie flag it down - no dedicated bus-stops), though bizarrely this ran too late in the mornings last season to be of much use, certainly on busydays.
Plenty of parking spaces on the hill but on good days get there early - I mean before or latest by 8am for a 9am first tow
enjoy!
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You know it makes sense.
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| up4it wrote: |
From the North Midlands if we left on Sunday afternoon/evening?
Thinking of doing it this season, where would be a good place to stay, i heard the lifts are away from the hotels. Do they do shuttles or is there plenty of parking and can you buy passes in advance to save time.
Lastly, equipment hire, is it in the town or at the bottom of the lifts.
Thanks |
Total travel time from door-to-door will be about 7 hours min. Probably longer if you factor in heavy end-of-week traffic. It is a long, tiring journey.
Ideally, you should leave it until Mar or Apr. Scottish skiing is downright miserable most times before that, due to grim weather and limited daylight.
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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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up4it, used to do week-ends regularly from London. Get home on the friday night, wait until all the glass had been swept up on the motorways (around 10 or 11pm) and then we'd drive like a bug-eyed mad things through the night. Catch a few Zs here and there, swap drivers regularly. We would aim to be the first car in the Day Lodge car park. Sleep until lifts open, ski all day and then go find somewhere to stay. Sleep a bit, then out til closing. Ski all day sunday and then head back home. I have no idea how we managed it but we did. That was 20 years ago and best door-to-door was around 7 hours (what speed cameras?). We even did same routine once to Kitzbuhel but that was silly.
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Ideally, you should leave it until Mar or Apr. Scottish skiing is downright miserable most times before that, due to grim weather and limited daylight.
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Never really found it that bad, even when I was there full time. Anyway, it's the odd adversity that makes it fun. With accurate weather reports now you should be able to get it right.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've driven a few times from Bristol to the Moray Firth which is about an hour further on than Aviemore and I'd say factoring in stops 8 hours is a reasonable target from where you are. If you go up the West then cut across at Glasgow that's probably preferable than going up the east coast route which can e very bad south of Newcastle. IIRC the last speed cameras are just past Blair Athol and from then on you're safe so the Drumochter is camera less (although there may be police patrols, but I've never seen any!) and you can use the sections of dual carriageway to bomb past the slow drivers and lorries - just be aware that it goes from dual to standard carriageway every so often so keep your wits about you and stay safe.
If you're planning more than a week in advance though the overnight sleeper as mentioned above may be a good option, booking ahead makes it very cheap and it saves you a couple of nights accommodation too. I'm sure it picks up somewhere in the Midlands or thereabouts and certainly stops off in Aviemore so is ideal. From there you can grab breakfast, drop your baggage off get hire sorted and be on the mountain that day - ideal really.
As you've probably gathered ski hire is available on the mountain and in Aviemore, I get the impression that the equipment on the hill is not that great so perhaps best to hire in town. All the ski/mountain shops do hire, from memory there's an Ellis Brigham, Nevis Sport and various others available. Last time I was up (May 2006) I hired skis for my daughter at Nevis Sport and they were very good and the equipment was relatively new and well maintained.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| roga wrote: |
| IIRC the last speed cameras are just past Blair Athol |
This may be true as I normally turn off at Dalwhinnie 25 miles south of Aviemore - to head to Skye.
I regularly travel down to Newcastle this way and it takes me about 3.5 to 4.5 hours from Dalwhinnie to Newcastle (I try to keep within 10% of the speed limit)
Accomodation: www.aviemorehighlandresort.com do sometimes offer great deals if you want 4* and book in advance but www.cairngorm.com is cheaper, has lively bar and is good value 
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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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up4it, Sorry mate looks likeBode Swiller, andWhitegold, are close to my reckoning. I would take M6, M74/A74, A80, M80, M9 to Perth then take either A93 to Glenshee or A9 to Aviemore.
richmond,
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halfhand wrote:
up4it, Don't believe it. Factor in petrol stops, driver rests,bog breaks etc.. You'll be lucky to break 8 hrs.
Done Warrington to Aviemore and Warrington to Chamonix. Admittedly left at 9pm in the evening and drove all night, 4 drivers. On Le Shuttle by 12:30, pulled in to the car park at Chamonix at 10am local time.
Warrington to the tunnel in 3.5 hours is pretty good going. 80mph average; I suppose it's m'way all the way, so why not, at that time of day?
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Yes we did tonk it tried to keep around 85-90 in UK and regularly topped 100 in France. Not bragging but needs must etc.... Of course it played havoc with the fuel consumption in a 325i. I guess our speed was increased through being incensed that Difficult Jet had cancelled our flight whilst we were in the check-in queue at 6pm  Not good when you are only doing a long weekend.
S'funny tho' not one speeding ticket or intervention from Les Flics 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I used to reckon 9 1/2 or 10 hours from by Hampstead Heath, London 20 years ago. Half an hour of that was getting to the edge of London. Now more motorways in Scotland and the Birmingham by-pass must have brought it down at least 1/2 an hour, perhaps an hour. That's assuming no jams which could put an hour back on.
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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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Takes me 5.30 to 6 hours from West Yorkshire. Do the Journey most years. On a Sunday afternoon you should be able do it in 5 1/2 hours.
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its 7.5 hrs from London on the train
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Suggest we stop pontificating about it and decide when to give it a go for real (assuming Scotland gets the season it deserves and this is, after all, a Brit-based forum and some kind of "bash" should be on home snow outdoors). You know... like one of 'em Top Gear races between Clarkson in a supercar and Hammond & Capt Slow by bus, train, boat etc. All participants have to agree to leave home at a particular time and nominate their preferred "travel weapon". Just the idle thought of someone just back from the pub.
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7 1/2 hours my record but 20 years ago on a Wednesday back to Guildford 3 drivers no stops... only petrol....
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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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Dunk, takes me almost that long to park in Guildford now.
In 20 years air travel has got slower thanks to all the restrictions and loss of Concorde. Cars have got faster but driving has got slower. Trains are probably only marginally faster than they were but at least you can get a sleeper to Aviemore Station, grab breakfast and jump on the first bus up the hill. Think that would be my preferred way of getting there now.
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Bode Swiller, you found a space.... respect
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| up4it wrote: |
halfhand, aa route finder says it's 394 miles and 6hrs 48 mins, i was hoping in reality it may be quicker.
French Alps in 12 hours from the Midlands? It takes 4 hours to get to Dover, you would need to leave 5 hours to ensure you make the crossing. 9 hours the other side surely. I reckon it would be double the travelling time of Scotland at the very best. |
I have done Walsall to Samoens (15 mins closer than chamonix) a couple of times and the computer on the car usually says "Driving Time" (i.e. engine on) 11hr15mins. If you factor in stops for tunnell and lunch we usually reckon on 14hrs and that is 1 driver (me) and includes having 2 kids in the back (i.e. longer stops). That is doing 80-85MPH most of the time.
Never tried Scot Skiing - must do one day I suppose. I would reckon on 7-8 hours driving.
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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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Bode Swiller, I reckon the sleeper is the best way (and it's cheap if you book a little bit ahead) and I intend to do it this season at least once or twice 
BTW, apparently it was a decent day on Cairngorm today with some decent cover on the runs that were open and relatively blue skies - Cairngorm have done a good job opening so quickly and beating a lot of Europe to boot!
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You know it makes sense.
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snowball, Looked good... 13th March 2005! You had me for a minute.
roga, £112 apex return direct from Euston - just looked at a few dates in early Feb. Tempting. You'd spend that on petrol and you'd need an extra hotel night and you'd be tuckered out from driving.
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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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We always used to reckon 8hrs from Swindon to Cairmngorm for winter climbing weeknds, leaving Swindon 6pm Friday
Then 12 hours to French Alps for skiing leaving on a 10pm ferry and driving all night with two drivers. aarrivce resport 8.30 am, park, change into gear, ski, sleep is for when it is dark later
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| roga, £112 apex return direct from Euston - just looked at a few dates in early Feb. Tempting. You'd spend that on petrol and you'd need an extra hotel night and you'd be tuckered out from driving. |
Yup, IMHO it's a decent price especially when you consider you're saving on petrol if driving, accomodation and you'd have to pay extra for baggage on Easyjet if flying - certainly worth thinking about 
It'll be interesting to see how the season pans out but if there are late dumps like last year and skiing into May it's definietly worth going up because conditions were amazing in April 2006 - I'd dare say better than much of the Alps!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stevo_the_saddler, You'd be right. It used to take me 6 and a half hours from Market Drayton (near Crewe) to get to Fort William, or a shade under 6 to Glencoe. But then I have almost superhuman bladder control, and didn't stop.
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brian
brian
Guest
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Brian has posted above what is a horrible yet classic example of a baseless wonder! Prolonged spell of cold and snow, snow and more snow really isn't what we want in Scotland, it's good at the time, but unless there is regular freeze/thaw cycling to consolidate the snow when the inevitable SW hair dryer comes in you realise how fast powder melts!
There was much less snow on the mountain last weekend, its been milder and wetter this past week, but the change less dramatic. There's still something of a base in the Top Basin, down the Traverse and 105, and upper Cas, it's broken, but its snowing on the upper mountain today and things are heading the right way again with some further snow intermixed with some short sharp freeze/thaw cycling over the next few days. Fingers crossed.
In terms or brians post above, if planning a bit ahead, take note of not just how much snow or terrain is open, but more importantly the weather patterns that got us to where we currently are. Spectuacularly good but baseless cover has the potential to go much quicker than a less extensive (or at least less impressive looking) well consolidated snow pack.
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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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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
snowball, Looked good... 13th March 2005! You had me for a minute.
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Ha ha! When I first saw it I didn't notice the date either (well, it was the current front page - you'd think it would be from this year)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| snowball wrote: |
| Bode Swiller wrote: |
snowball, Looked good... 13th March 2005! You had me for a minute.
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Ha ha! When I first saw it I didn't notice the date either (well, it was the current front page - you'd think it would be from this year) |
Eh? 
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| Quote: |
Bode Swiller wrote:
snowball, Looked good... 13th March 2005! You had me for a minute.
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Ha ha! When I first saw it I didn't notice the date either (well, it was the current front page - you'd think it would be from this year)
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The front page is:
http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/general/index.php
and the top two picture links down the right hand side are to Cairngorm for the weekend of 25th and 26th November this year.
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The 'Front' Page is http://www.winterhighland.info which has a summary of current lift status reports, date of last reports posted on the Backcountry, Ice Climbing, Public Reports and Mountain Biking Reports Servers and the latest photos in the PixfromtheSlopes galleries.
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