a good insight on Scottish Skiing

A snowHead

http://www.slushfilm.blogspot.com/

snowHead

A snowHead

How it looks depends so much on when you go.
Just one good shot of someone skiing the back at Nevis - the only bit of great skiing on view here.
Seemed fair enough as a report though.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Peter_S, Interesting vid but too many downbeat comments and too many gray shots of cloud, wind and rain.

I skied Nevis and Glencoe under bluebird skies at the end of Apr this year and it was one of the most surprisingly enjoyable weekends ever.

The trip well exceeded my expectations, with unexpectedly steep slopes, good pow and top weather.

They should bin the vid and go back to refilm it next season when the sun is out.

And get an upbeat yank to do the voiceover.

Make it Hollywood not Cricklewood.

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Interesting wee film, I remember the guy who did it posting on Winterhighland about his plans to produce it a while back.

I think the film is reasonably fair to be honest and at least they're not trying to do the usual hatchet job. However they managed to get up and film in the worst part of the last season (February) and missed the good conditions in January and the great in March and April so it doesn't really give a full picture of the last season which, as Whitegold points out, was certainly excellent in April.

Whilst I think the comments from Marian Austin at Nevis Range are pretty fair and realistic I'd question some of the comments from Patrick Thorne who in saying that there has "been very little snow" in the "past 5/6 years" comes across as not knowing what he's talking about because this is patently untrue, his comments might have been pulled out of context though I guess. Rachael the snowboarder comments about "skiing up there in October" and that "now that just doesn't really happen", well whilst this was never the norm I recall a snowfall this last September when people walked up and were sliding on the fresh (brave souls with no base under said snow) and there are people up there sliding on snow patches most months of the year and these aren't unique events either.

What they say about cheap flights to the Alps is certainly true IMHO though and I think this has had a greater impact than almost anything else although with current price hikes it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few years.

Again Marian Austin is IMHO spot on when she comments that "people believe that winter is between November and February where traditionally the best skiing in Scotland is between March and April". This has been the case for a long time, I remember it being the case back in the 80s and this was noted by V. A. Firsoff in his book "The Cairngorms on Foot and Ski" (pages 57-58 ) back in 1949:

"Quite heavy falls of snow occur at the close of October and in November... One may even get a day or two of ski-ing on the tops. This is, however, but a flash in the pan, and a few days later it will be "black earth" once more.

"Old Yule is more often black than white...

"Winter seldom takes secure possession of the Cairngorms before the New Year, and the Sou'Wester reigns supreme until the second half of February. Then the contest of the winds abates and the High Tops have a thick cover of snow; but the lower, heather grown slopes are barely negotiable on ski... The snow precipitation varies greatly from year to year, but in most winters there is at least a week or or two of really heavy snow and frosty sunshine some time in February or March."

That suggest to me conditions have been marginal for longer than many care to admit although it cannot be denied that in recent years they may well have become marginally more marginal than before!

In his later book "On Ski in the Cairngorms" (1965) Firsoff described conditions at Easter 1964 in a way that any modern skier or boarder in Scotland would recognise:

"Of the 16 days I spent at Glenmore beginning with the 27th of March the lift was out of action for 3 days, and sometimes, though not strong enough to sop it, the wind was biting enough to make the last 100 yards or so of the seven minute ride uncomfortably chilly...

"The snow conditions varied a good deal during this period. To begin with the piste was hard-rolled snow with a few icy patches. Then new falls came, to make it powder for a while, but the lower reaches were turning wet, to end up as spring snow. On the 9th April a disastrous thaw all but decapitated the White Lady and left the tow track in Coire na Ciste streaming with melt-waters and with boulders sticking out."

Contrary to popular sentiment I'd therefore suggest conditions were far better in April 2008 than back in April 1964 although admittedly 63/64 was one of the poorer seasons in the early 1960s.

One of things that most definitely has changed since the 60s though is our expectations of winter sports resorts and in this area Scotland has most definitely fallen behind. As pointed out in the film the Alps have also had poor seasons but what's not mentioned is that snowmaking has often helped to stave off disaster in these lean years. Whist not bullet proof in resorts with such infrastructure you can at least usually rely on some runs being available and that makes planning a trip a safer proposition than it would be without this infrastructure. As has been proven by recent snowmaking studies undertaken by Winterhighland there are many windows when snowmaking could be used in Scotland and additionally machine made snow is more able to withstand the sorts of severe thaws that have been noted for many decades as a feature of the Scottish mountains. However, the point is that apart from some antiquated equipment at The Lecht and Glenshee (where apparently they generally can't use it because of water supply problems) there isn't modern snowmaking installed as yet but I personally think they need to seriously consider it if they're to maintain their share of the market or even expand it.

Oh well, this'll run and run I guess but not a bad wee film although I really could have done without Patrick Thorne adding himself to the ever increasing list of journos who appear to be clueless about modern snowsports in Scotland but are happy to pontificate on the subject all the same!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Having not skied in Scotland (although i've been tempted i'm not driving all that way on my own!) I actually thought it looked good... a bit windy and wild in places but felt the video was trying hard, but not too hard to push it as an option for more UK skiers. How does the resort shown compared to the other big mention on here at Glenshee?

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in the vid?

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Skiing Scotland from my limited experience is a lot better than you think it's going to be. I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly, but it was an absolute hoot - even with crap vis and one very important lift shut (the Braveheart at Nevis, it was) effectively making 40% or so of the resort off-limits, and I'd definitely go again. No question. Maybe to a different hill next time, but I'd definitely do it. Even if roga was going to be there again.

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paulio, if Bravehearts not open you can just traverse back round? mite not be 100% available but it definitely isn't 40% unavailable!!

After all it is free

Well, the reason for it being shut was the 5m visibility, so didn't fancy it! Twisted Evil

paulio, your lucky you had 5 Very Happy

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Yes I agree that it doesn't show Scotland at its best, particularly given the superb conditions last year.

However i thought the underlying messages were very honest - ie. when its good its world beating and when its bad, well, its rather challenging, and therein lies the joy. snowHead

Scotland and probably Britain, in a nutshell.

snow reports

Yes, the end of last season was exceptionally good (as, I gather - exceptionally - were Jan and early Feb) and the video crew missed it - but at least they had that quote about March and April being the best. Though actually, looking at SCGB snow records, after the first week of April you'd have to be very lucky to get much snow.

Paulio, the first time we skied the back of Nevis last season there was also about 5m visibility (low cloud), but I admit we did know where we were going. Even so we found it quite a steep slope to enter when you can't see it.

Yes, Braveheart doesn't need to be open (it didn't exist when I used to ski there in the past). And you can ski all the rest of the back too, without Braveheart being open - if you are prepared to spend 15 minutes climbing out (or 10 mins on skins).

PS What's wrong with roga ? (I really need to know - I was intending to try skiing with him one day)

You know it makes sense.

Sig. other and I aren't quite adventurous enough to plunge into the gloomy unknown not knowing the return route. There were choppers buzzing about rescuing people at the time as I recall too, which didn't instill confidence.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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I thought the film was fair TBH. The only exception being the girl who thought October skiing used to be regular! Shocked

Also nice for me to see my old pals Marion (been promoted since I last had news) and Mike Shepherd doing their bit. Very Happy

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I feel bad about this now. Just to be clear on this, roga is - I think the technical term is - an 'awesome dude' and that off-colour remark really was just random mucking about!

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

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a good insight on Scottish Skiing

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