 Poster: A snowHead
|
Highland Council wrote off a £1 million loan to Cairngorm Mountain yesterday after fears that the company was close to folding. Members of the Council agreed to forego the loan and sell it for £1 to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which could now take over CairnGorm Mountain Ltd.
...Source and more info: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/630460?UserKey=0
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Having just been up there I support all things which will keep sport and leisure on Cairngorm. OK, money has to come from somewhere and ,of course, it's you and me ,perhaps the English a well as the Scots. The area's economy is fragile and a needs all the help it can get.
Various administrations have tried to make the books balance and I would doubt if failure to do so is through lack of trying.
I do suspect that a lot of English money is in the backing to these organisations and I hope the Nationalists will recognise the benefit of this before any moves to break up our wonderful Union.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
^ I agree with what you say there generally Farley Goode but current management at Cairngorm are mostly doing their best in circumstances that I believe were not of their making. Much of the debt as I understand it was accumulated by a previous management team who had little or no experience in snowsports and by a board (still in situ) who seem to have made some fairly disastrous decisions at times in the past and many feel are still doing the same.
Recent seasons have not been quite as awful as some have made out snow wise, the 2006/07 season was poor in common with other areas in Europe but Cairngorm offered snowsports (although mostly limited) from December until late April. The year before saw excellent conditions in March and April with snowsports continuing until the second week in May. This season, of course, has been very good indeed as many on this forum have noticed and some of us have made a few trips up to Scotland to take advantage of the snow, my own last trip being over the May bank holiday weekend when I found the staff and atmosphere at Cairngorm absolutely excellent.
Financially last summer was also very poor indeed with the bad summer holiday weather affecting Cairngorms summer trade adversely, this added to the poor winter season heaped financial problems on the company.
The funicular, love it or loathe it, is a great tourist asset and has helped to pump regeneration money into Aviemore which is, IMHO, the closest we have in the UK to a 'proper' ski and mountain resort and for this alone I think we should be supporting the area financially if necessary. It has also helped to regenerate the local economy and attract further investment such as the currently planned £3.2 million snow and ice complex planned by the people who run the highly successful Ice Factor centre near Fort William.
With debts written off and a new structure controlling Cairngorm there just may be a chance that proper investments can be made in the rest of the infrastructure on the mountain and things can be turned round. Certainly there's a bank of goodwill after this excellent season so now might be a good time to move things on and hopefully this is the first step in doing so.
Best of luck to all concerned and here's to many more seasons of snow on Cairngorm 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Fairly Goode is introducing a political dimension to Snowheads by expressing an opinion on the Union between Scotland & England.
I think this should be avoided at all costs given the current political situation at Holyrood & Westminster.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Thanks for that snowaddict, seems like it could be excellent news especially if much of the debt previous managements and the building of the funicular built up are mostly written off. This coming after a great year for snowsports will hopefully help free up funds that have previously gone towards debt servicing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ