 Poster: A snowHead
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As it says discuss, even if you do already. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A Scottish girlfriend 
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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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Winterhighland, Reliable snow ! It takes me as long to get to Cairngorm, as to Chamonix...which would you choose ?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Winterhighland,
Same as ski, so never been up there.
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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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Winterhighland, A race on the calendar that isn't cancelled.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Living in Penicuik. (A situation which is unlikely to re-occur, I have to say.  )
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If I didn't pay for it.
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If I could get there quicker/cheaper than to the alps, reliable snow and good weather.
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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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£40 overnight sleeper rtn ex King's Cross - Aviemore/Fort Bill
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fatbob, not last time I looked.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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No that's what might persusde me!
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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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I do ski Scotland. I love the ski-ing, I love the views. I've done it for 22 years now. OK, I just live outside Glasgow, but I know some people who live nearer than me but won't consider it.
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| fatbob wrote: |
| £40 overnight sleeper rtn ex King's Cross - Aviemore/Fort Bill |
That would be good, especially if you could book it a short notice at that price. Would make it possible to do a day-trip to Aviemore for a sensible price: check the weather & snow forecast on the Wednesday, travelling up on the Friday after work, ski for the day, dinner in Aviemore, then returning on the Saturday evening sleeper. Sounds very agreeable.
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You know it makes sense.
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I have a rail travel card with a discount so I might be up for a short trip with a few like-minded southern based bods next year
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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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A blue sky and white hill.
The Scottish Parliament should subsidize rail and air travel from London and the near-continent to the Highlands.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The main barrier for many is that the Highlands are quite remote. For a Londoner (or a South-coaster like me), it's probably quicker to get to Geneva than it is to get to Ft. William, and about the same price.
Personally, I really enjoyed the experience of skiing north of the border, and would (indeed, will) do so again, but as ski said above - for many people it doesn't seem a sensible use of resource when you could be in the Alps instead...
More advertising would help though probably! I dare say many don't even realise it's possible.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Transport from the Mainland is rubbish to Scotland ;(
Just the boat, without car, from the Netherlands to Edinburg is more expensive for 2 then driving a car through the tunnel, then up to Scotland.
Airliners are expensive mainstream, and the budgetliners are from germany.
Probably the best deal is fly to london, then overnight train 
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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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| Ronald wrote: |
Transport from the Mainland is rubbish to Scotland ;(
Just the boat, without car, from the Netherlands to Edinburg is more expensive for 2 then driving a car through the tunnel, then up to Scotland.
Airliners are expensive mainstream, and the budgetliners are from germany.
Probably the best deal is fly to london, then overnight train |
Do Easyjet not still do Edinburgh to Amsterdam?
I think the very high cost of petrol and trains within the Uk plus the low cost of flights to Europe would put many peoiple off.
I think that a lot of people still want to ski in December and January, they come up, its really cold, theres not much of a base and they assume thats the best it gets. Its sooooo much better in March and April. Look at the ski test that Kiwi organised up here this year, he originally wanted to do it the start of April but it got moved back earlier because everyone was scared there would be no snow!
Realistically I don't think I would ski in Scotland if I lived in the south of England and had no ties with the country. Its the people who live in Scotland who don't ski here that I think should be targeted. I introduced at least 10 new to Scotland skiers to skiing up North this year, do I get a medal  , seriously every single one was really surprised how good the skiing was, the main sentiment was " I didn't realise all this would be there".
For many people one of the things that they like about Scottish skiing is how "wild" it can feel compared to skiing at bigger resorts, there isn't cafes all over the place and it can be really quiet apart from the odd hugely overcrowded day. With the increasing fashionableness of off-piste skiing, I think Scottish skiing should be marketed as more of a mountain experience, enjoy the scenery, isolation, lack of grooming etc. rather than trying to compete with bigger European resorts.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Sun 27-07-08 12:59; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Living 4 hours drive from the nearest Scottish resort all I need are
(1) snow to complete the run without holes, gravel, rock, grass etc
(2) Enough lifts are open, say more than 50%.
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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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Living an hour from Glencoe and an hour and a half from Fort William i'd have to say, new snow over night and good reports from friends from the previous day!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
I would ski in Scotland any time if I didn't live in LDA! I love the Highlands and the skiing is as good on a good day as anywhere.
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Well that has to be a great endorsement to skiers not based in Scotland, doesn't it ?
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Nothing - unless I was up there for another reason. Just too far and too snow/wind uncertain to be a pre-booked destination resort for those of us South of London.
But there is really nothing wrong with Scottish hills being small gems which are convenient for local skiers. This is the way thousands of hills in the US and Canada and Europe function very successfully.
So my point would be that surely effective promotion to people living in Scotland and the North of England is what is needed, and to sort out the infrastructure problems that do lead to some day skiers having poor experiences with hire, car parks getting tickets etc etc. Sounds much like what lynseyf is saying
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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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I'd go again if I could be sure enough of the snow in advance and not having to rely on a last minute decision.
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If I was to ski Scotland, it would have to be at holiday time, and reports of car parks full by 9.30am & 1 hour + queues to get up the mountain don't do anything to persuade me to visit.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If they moved it to Verbier
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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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I'm one of those for whom its probably as quick to go to the alps as it is the Scottish Highlands. Also, if you use skiing as a holiday (rather than just doing it for the skiing) then there is something more special about going on holiday to somewhere that is 'abroad' - strange money, different food, just the different atmosphere that comes with being abroad. Mind you, that said, I certainly wouldn't pass up the offer of skiing in Scotland if I had the opportunity, but if someone said the alps or Scotland I have to say I probably pick the alps.
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If the ferry from NI was cheaper, I'd probably do a few weekends a season. It is just too expensive to get to for me and difficult to plan ahead. Shame, as I'd love to do more skiing in Scotland
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You know it makes sense.
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Due to work (both hubby and I have to work some Saturdays), it isn't really practical, as we can;t just 'pick up and go' . The only time we considered it a few years ago, we couldn't find any suitable accommodation at short notice.
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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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If the price to petrol comes down. I live 70 miles from Nevis Range and have a season ticket there and it's still a £25 round trip in petrol alone. I'm cutting back on one European trip this year so thats saved £1000 so I expect to better my 18 days in both 2006/7 and 2007/8 in Scotland.
Back to my first point there was a couple of days last season I would have gone to cairngorm when the snow was great but didn't due to the £40 petrol bill on top of the ski pass ( even with a 30% off pass ) £60 for one day skiing hmmmmm...
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Poster: A snowHead
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I wouldn't ever book ahead to go because the weather is so unpredictable and I have been told that the skiing is often not exactly novice friendly. However in theory, I'd love to be able to go and enjoy Scotland at short notice when there is good snow/weather but even from here you're talking some 8 hours driving each way including a stop but on roads liable to be closed due to snow!! I could get the train to Aviemore but that is also about 8 hrs each way and ime cancellations/delays are hardly a rarity. I live 3 miles from Humberside airport, so could fly to Aberdeen, but then what?
And the cost? Rail at £110+, airfare something horrendous no doubt, accommodation probably £50+ pppn B&B, lift pass, ski hire......
If there were some well advertised, last minute, inclusive short-break packages with tempting prices to include rail/air fares and a pick up service taking you to accommodation where lift passes and equipment were brought to you............ then I'd consider it.
Scotland just cannot compete with some of the Alps deals on offer in value for money and near guaranteed conditions.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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II,
At £60.00 it still makes it cheaper than Europe for you?
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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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Me and the better half looked at going to Scotland for a few days the other year but with Ryanair doing flights at £31 return incl taxes it was cheaper to fly to Granada and ski in the Sierra Nevada for a few days 
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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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| Quote: |
then returning on the Saturday evening sleeper
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There isn't a saturday evening sleeper in either direction and its the pits .
I've been down to London for a couple of races and the sleeper is great, except there isn't one on Saturday. So if the race is Saturday I get the sleeper ddown on Friday night arrive in plenty of time for the race, but the i can't get a sleeper back until Sunday.
To answer the original question - I already ski in scotland - 33 days last season. But I'm going to be reducing the amount of driving I'm doing this coming season - I'll be doing more weekends/ multi days when conditions are good and staying overnight as the deisel bill is getting too large for too many day trips.
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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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Move it to Austria!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Winterhighland, so what is Scotland's ski tourism industry planning to do to sell itself more effectively and encourage more of us to try it? How about someone setting up a last minute breaks package business that functions primarily to make the most of the conditions when they're really good?
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The resorts are often packed on good weekends - so theres no problem there...but....
There were only a handful of weekends that the conditions were "really good" this year (Im talking a combination of good snow and overhead weather conditions). And on those good weekends if you hired equipment and turned up after 9 you were pretty much stuffed for the morning. Queue times can be horrendous.. especially at Glenshee.
If youre somehow flexible enough to take days off mid week last minute then youre sorted. I guess thats a difficult one to market.
That said, I'll board in anything so not too fussed myself - and I love the wildness of the place, going over the back corries this year was probably one of my best days boarding anywhere ever, even if I had to walk out cos the braveheart stopped
I also think that we should push christmas back to late feb, so were not having to get ourselves worked up about it being winter and there being no snow for two months.
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| Quote: |
If youre somehow flexible enough to take days off mid week last minute then youre sorted. I guess thats a difficult one to market.
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Last season there were some midweek days when the forecast was good and the weekend forecast was poor ( either windy or poor overhead conditions) and Cairngorm was as busy on the weekday as a normal weekend. My problem is that I can't easily take more than a day off midweek at very short notice. So midweek I'm limited to just one day, unless I've planned it on the Monday.
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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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We have been a few times i the past and made it up over easter weekend for the mini meet and had another fab time skiing in Scotland. We're based in Cheshire and to be honest if the drive was any longer it might put us off, with the price of petrol etc.
I think that Scotland is just a completely different (but equally valid) way of skiing to the alps. I would never ski Scotland instead of a trip to Austria, but will definitely do it as an extra long weekend pretty regularly in the future.
Specific improvements that could be made to make me want to go more:
Better lift provision at some of the resorts - there are some awkward and poorly thought out links in some places, uphill walks to get to the skiable area at all, and general under-investment in the infrastructure, as well as e.g. Braveheart continually having problems and not being open very often (which I know is conditions rather than lift itself sometimes but still). Also consistent opening of lifts generally, not just Braveheart. Lots and lots of drags are also a drag sometimes. Again, all things I happily 'live with' as I like skiing Scotland, but I know people who would be put off by this kind of thing.
Clearer piste marking in some areas - I know the fences are there etc. but it is not as clear and easy to find your way around as it is when there are the standard blue/red/black piste poles at the sides.
Maybe some liftpass deals for people who want to ski two or three resorts over one weekend - not sure if this already exists (apart from season ticket holders) but it would help long weekenders as the extent at any one resort might not be that huge, but combining a couple in a weekend is fab.
How about some packages for B&B plus ski pass?
More of a resort feeling - Fort William was better this year than I remember it - a couple of nice pubs for convivial drinks and a good curry after skiing were vote winners in my book!
Just my thoughts and I hope it doesn't come across as negative, I like skiing Scotland, but I am being honest in saying that I can see why some people might not.
D
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I have heard that it is for real skiers only and that nancy boys like me who prefer the nicely groomed pistes need not apply. Oh and I have also heard that the mountain hut food is pap.
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FAQ
