 Poster: A snowHead
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What on earth is an argo taxi? 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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moffatross, forecast is improving for tomorrow! Think I might go for it... maybe even Sunday too.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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moffatross, cool will do, I will probably be rolling solo, grey Sweet helmet, green jacket/grey pants. Probably Dakine Heli pack. Armada ARVs with 'Change for a nickel?' and 'Die Living' stickers. I imagine I will be pretty hard to miss! Hopefully not too many people have the same idea and it is pretty quiet. Looking to leave Helensburgh at around half 9.
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hmmm, weather is going to be better the futher south you go and improve in the afternoon.... great if you are coming from the south head up to Glencoe...I live north of Nevis and 2 hours north of the Coe..... 
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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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II, I've worked it wrong too.....having spent a couple of days in Glencoe when the winds stopped play, I'm now back in Aviemore! May see if Nevis looks worth the journey tomorrow, as the forecast definitely looks better for the west than for Cairngorm.
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Liz, how was it today?
Looked pretty excellent on the webcams once it cleared, particularly at Cairngorm and Glencoe 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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roga, I can fill you in on today.. went up for about 11 ish and met moffatross in the car park, I must say it is the first time I have ever met a man off the internet but it was good to put a face to a name! I was with a couple folks just to cruise a couple runs so didn't manage turns with MR but would have been good to get a few. Spent most of the time on the upper half of the mountain lapping off the Main Basin Tbar, chalky soft snow on a soft base if you avoided the obvious glistening ice patches. Spring Run was really excellent in places, again avoid the 'ice'. The gully to the right at the bottom was top class with nice soft chalky snow again.. not much to add but a great day was had by all. Once I figure out what Picasa is I will upload a couple pics
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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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arv, fixed it for you 
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You know it makes sense.
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Looks excellent guys, glad you had a great day - just hope next weeks warmer weather isn't too ferocious!
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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II, 
roga, It is starting to look REALLY bad...
moffatross, shame we didn't get to make turns, next time! Do you drive the whole way up the A82, usually I end up taking a solo mission so if you are in the same boat again we should split petrol.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I went to Nevis yesterday (couldn't connect to internet last night for some reason )
Snow was in pretty good nick. All the summit runs and goose were excellent. It was possible to ski down to the bottom of the chair, but was a bit dodgy towards the bottom (my skis had a couple too many encounters with rocks!). I was surprised how few people were there......the carpark was empty, and 1/2 of them were foot passengers. Cairngorm today looked far busier.
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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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The snow on Cairngorm was fantastic today but the wind at 2pm was pretty strong (50-55 mph) creating near white-out conditions at times. As Winterhighland has already said, the upper runs are fantastic with fresh snow. In lighter winds the conditions would have been fantastic, but it was a real battle on the tows with a strong crosswind!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Winterhighland, the WL looks good, I really hope it stands up to the warm weather over the next few days, would love to ski it next weekend
Elizabeth B, sounds pretty good but people at Cairngorm were saying it was really quiet there too - I don't know what on earth happens at this time of year but these days people just seem to forget about skiing. It's always been the case that Scotland often offers the best in late March and early April but people now just don't come, personally I blame the 'winter holiday' mentality, like tour operators they seem to think that it's all over by the middle of March. Crazy and frankly if people are purporting to be committed snowsports enthusiasts, or as my daughter says "real skiers", they'd take every available opportunity IMHO and thank their lucky stars the season lasts as long as it does!
Sorry for the slight rant but it really does do my head in and I'm sure things were different 20 years ago (at least in Scotland) ... or am I wearing rose tinted spectacles?
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Cool pics, dudes.
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The drifting snow did at times give the 'where have my feet gone' feeling, however the visibility was markedly better in the Top Basin today than on Saturday....
^Looking up the Ciste Bowl from below the Ptarmigan Tow diagonally back to the Ciste T-bar on Saturday afternoon. You might just make out a piste sign!
No queues today except briefly around lunchtime for the Funicular. Local schools in Highland and Grampian started their Easter holidays on Friday, this tends to quieten weekends down - the first week of Easter seems to be a very popular time for local and semi local skiing families to take an overseas snowsports holiday, given that we do not have the Feb half term (only a long weekend).
While it is and always has been quieter from Easter, the numbers at weekends anyway can pick up a bit after the local school holidays and this was certainly the case last year. However it is also the time where the 'Summer' tourist trade starts to get going, settled weather over the next week would give a real boost to CairnGorm and Nevis from non skiing visitors.
As for Roga's rose tinted specs, yes and no. There was always a relative decline in numbers late season, maybe it's part of the being a seasonal sport, people are deprived of their skiing and chomping at the bit in the autumn? However Mayday used to be the formal closing day at Glencoe, and last day of daily skiing at Nevis Range and Glencoe hasn't made May Day for quite a few years, the sad thing is contrary to what many believe, Glencoe has closed due to lack of skiers not lack of snow each spring for quite a few years,
Certainly though one of the reasons as a skier I like spring is the association with good skiing, better weather and queue free lifts on CairnGorm. Esp for CairnGorm Mayday was the last big hooray of the season - yes I have stood in six/seven deep queues for the White Lady T-bar on Mayday, but for late season that is the exception. Have also accessed the mountain via the Carpark T-bar with skiing to the Daylodge on MayDay on more than one year, in Scotland you just never know and in a way that keeps us interested!
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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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General PS to the above, having grown up skiing on CairnGorm the notion of a fixed ski season has always been completely alien to me, one I've never got my head around. Skiing was something to do whenever there was snow on the ground, and whenever there was snow on the ground the ski lifts run, be it October or June (CairnGorm, Glencoe, Nevis Range and Glenshee have all operated surface tows in June at some time or other). Do on one occasion recall day tickets being sold for the Carpark Chairlift in June, when an overnight fall of snow put down just enough to ski the Home Road! Damn the Closed System on the Funicular !
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On the point about skier numbers - I was at Glencoe on Wed and there were 7 of us there. The staff that I saw outnumbered us 2:1
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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This is all so sad, but the alps are not exempt either. For the last several seasons we could have stayed open much longer at the end of winter, but skier numbers do not justify running the very expensive lift system along with all the staff required.
The best time for skiing in Scotland has always been late spring, it would be a real shame if that was curtailed.
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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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> and last day of daily skiing at Nevis Range and Glencoe hasn't made May Day for quite a few years
Glencoe ran until 1st May winter 2006 (with the plateau poma and all uplfit still complete!).
Pictures from your own www site... 
http://www.winterhighland.info/publicreports/index.php?22,2006-05-01
Most years the main basin is complete until at least then - but the customers usually run out mid / end April.
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You know it makes sense.
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Haggis_Trap, oops Mayday was the 1st not 7th in 2006! Doh! It doesn't change the basic problem though, how do you get more Scottish Skiers skiing late season?
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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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Advertising and marketing might be a start Alan!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Was up at Nevis on Saturday and Glencoe on Sunday and had a great day at both. Was hoping to get another day today but Nevis was shut and Glencoe looked a bit soggy, busy next weekend so hope this wasn't my last day of the season
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Both Nevis and Glencoe were doing reduced price lift passes yet had not advertised this. Had I known, then I may have been tempted to do another afternoon or two. As it was, I only discovered this later on in the week, after I'd decided that conditions didn't justify £30 for what looked like one bare run (which was my view of Cairngorm from Glenmore a week ago!)
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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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Sunday 29th (March): Cairngorm was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! Blue sky all morning, full-on winter conditions and a mix of lovely pisted fresh stuff and powder drifts - just brilliant! Car park very busy but no lift queues (lots of cake-seeking non-skiers/boarders riding the funicular....)
Wind speed picked up to the "ridiculous" category by late afternoon - but still a fantastic day's skiing. Here's the Winterhighland pix:
http://www.winterhighland.info/pix/pixalbum.php?pix_id=538
They've suffered a bit of snow loss in milder temperatures today - but with the upper run snow fences buried, easter is looking good:D .
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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How well is the snow holding up in the high temps?
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footsoldier, I will share with you some nuggets of knowledge that I have built up (partly through experience) over the last 3 years that I have been kilt skiing.
Obviously if you wear a kilt in a 'traditional' (true) manner you have to take into account whether or not you might be using button lifts (as no matter how hard you try to hook it round both sides of the kilt, it always ends up underneath), and also the weather conditions. For example, one must beware of days of blazing sunshine, as remember that the UV will reflect off the snow. Hence why the underside of your nose etc gets burnt. Well, for the 'traditional' kilt wearer the nose is one particular appendage that you'd be least worried about burning! Please note that conditions of extreme cold also harbour their own dangers. In relation to the button lift, in the inevitable event of the button being hooked behind your bum, it might be ok (but cold) for you if you were 'traditional', but not pleasant hygiene-wise for the next person to get on the lift. Also note that these are metal bars that have been out in the cold for a prolongued period of time - ever stuck your tongue on the post of a chairlift? I saw someone do it once, they left behind a piece of tongue. In relation to yourself, you don't want to be leaving pieces of 'that' stuck to a poma bar.
As for sporran - go without. Your jacket usually covers the top section of the kilt anyway (so hides it), and if you do wear one it'll be bouncing around something awful. A quick means to sterility or at best severe bruising. If this bruising is in addition to sunburn (thus already tender skin) you will have a pleasant following few days.
The kilt itself (provided its a proper kilt made of the heavy material, and not a £25 glorified skirt made in China and bought off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh) is generally heavy enough to stay down and not end up around your shoulders, unless you're intending on much terrain park action. In which case the ladies will love you and the blokes will cringe. Same goes for dropping cornices and in some circumstances descending steep terrain at speed. I also wouldn't advise going out in winds above about 25mph, as you're prone on being 'caught out'. Whether this is bending down in the lift queue to adjust your boots, or etc etc. You can imagine the potential. I skied in the kilt in a 55mph day at CairnGorm last winter, and following one run I quickly retreated back to the car to swap into my usual ski pants. The granny bus pulling into the carpark got an eyeful when a particularly strong gust of wind arrived just as I was opening the car door, but that's another story...
Have fun, be wary, and god-speed.
Jamie
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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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| firstracks wrote: |
Obviously if you wear a kilt in a 'traditional' (true) manner you have to take into account whether or not you might be using button lifts (as no matter how hard you try to hook it round both sides of the kilt, it always ends up underneath), and also the weather conditions. For example, one must beware of days of blazing sunshine, as remember that the UV will reflect off the snow.
Also note that these are metal bars that have been out in the cold for a prolongued period of time - ever stuck your tongue on the post of a chairlift? I saw someone do it once, they left behind a piece of tongue. In relation to yourself, you don't want to be leaving pieces of 'that' stuck to a poma bar.
Jamie |
The perils of the button hadn't even figured in my thinking... leaving bits behind adds a whole new level to my worries about maintaining an appropriate demeanour.. For the moment I'm thinking discretion may well be the better part of valour! Will give it a go sometime soon anyway. Thanks for sharing...
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FAQ
) from the top of the access chair to the bottom of the cliffy. You can get 4 in the back (just) and 1 in the front. But hold on tight because it's a rough ride up that track. 
The pics look amazing n cant wait to get there
