 Poster: A snowHead
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As luck would have it, I seem to have managed to wangle a couple of days off work in Mid Feb and the missus as 'suggested' that we go skiing for a couple of days. Give the girl a medal methinks.
At the moment, the shortlist looks to be either NevisRange or Glenshee, as these two (judging from the pistemaps) offer a decent amount and the best mix of runs to suit our abilities. The is at that bordeline stage of nearly linking parallel turns. In her case a lot is to do with confidence rather than ability. I am quite happy skiing anywhere on piste .
Can anyone tell me which is the better bet of the two or if in fact one of the other Scottish centres would be better.
Ideally I would like to take her somewhere with a mix of blues/easy reds and ideally a choice of a few, rather than spending all day nipping up and down the same run... Aviemore for example doesnt look to have too many runs.
cheers in advance for any tips/advice as I am totally ignorant (more so than usual) when it comes to skiing in my own back yard 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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imull, The best bet generally is to go where the best snow/ weather is. All of the resorts will be testing in poor conditions. All can offer pleasant confidence building skiing in good condtions.
FWIW Glenshee probably has the most runs but this is no good to you without decent conditions. Glencoe is my favourite but you will be skiing the same few runs most of the da even in ideal conditions though you can vary how you do them a lot..
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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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cool thanks.
I coming off an island so need to do a bit of advance planning. Will just leave it as late as I dare for B&B etc at the best resort
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Atm the East Coast (Lecht, GlenShee, Cairngorm) seem to have the best snow, we've had a goodly amount everyday for the last week or so in Aberdeen, 3 inches or so on the ground - and that's sea level!
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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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Nevis is my favourite because the pistes are not so hemmed in by snow fences (to collect and keep the snow in the frequent high winds) and the back has the best steep skiing and off piste . However it might not be the best for you - If you want reasonably long intermediate runs you may be better off at Aviemore or Glenshee - though Aviemore is grander compared to Glenshee where the runs are shorter and often more constricted and don't have the big views or the off piste gullies you get at Aviemore. However I know there are Glenshee enthusiasts who will doubtless be on soon and the total areas they cover are probably similar.
As others have said, you need to ski Scotland when and where the snow happens to be good. Sometimes high winds close the lifts, and most years there are parts of the season when the lack of snow may severely restrict how much of the ski area is skiable, or you may be rattling and skidding on boiler-plate. I gather that this year has been the best for a while (and that now is great, especially the East which has more snow depth), but the basic caveats of Scottish skiing still apply.
imull I assume you live on Mull. Lovely place.
PS Nevis views are possibly the best of all and Glencoe, though it is small, has a quirky charm (and great location) that attracts many people. And if you have a car they are not that far apart.
Edit: Nevis-view photo taken from top of access gondola (bottom of usual ski area)
Edit2: Aviemore and Cairngorm are the same place
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 3-02-10 14:04; edited 1 time in total
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brian
brian
Guest
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| imull wrote: |
Ideally I would like to take her somewhere with a mix of blues/easy reds and ideally a choice of a few, rather than spending all day nipping up and down the same run... Aviemore for example doesnt look to have too many runs.
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I guess this is more a product of the deceptiveness of piste maps rather than anything else. Glenshee or Cairngorm would be the best bets for the type of skiing you describe. Glenshee has more runs in total but Cairngorm's are generally considerably longer. Overall amount of piste is probably similar. Both have good cover just now but Cairngorm's is phenomenal.
Nevis looks like a lot on the map but you can rule out all the stuff over the back (lhs of the map) as it's unpisted and the entries would put off anybody of limited confidence!
If you have the choice, avoid the school half term week.
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brian, Cheers Brian.
She's a teacher in Yorkshire so it will be week beginning 15th for English half term. Not checked when Scottish half term is but it is that week or nothing for us... 
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Glenshee and Cairn Gorm both pretty good, from my experience. Cairn Gorm are reporting very good snow coverage on their Twitter page atm.
http://twitter.com/CairngormMtn
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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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Only one way to find out if its all doable, so am going to try and make it out for a day on Saturday and see how it goes.
snowball Yes, I am on Mull. A lovely corner of the world no matter what the weather is doing.
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| Quote: |
She's a teacher in Yorkshire so it will be week beginning 15th for English half term. Not checked when Scottish half term is but it is that week or nothing for us
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As has been stated, all of the resorts have their own attractions. All are different but all are excellent on their day.
However, IMO, the west resorts never get anywhere near as busy as Aviemore and Glenshee - especially at peak times. While Cairngorm was reporting queues and being cleaned out of hire kit over New Year, we found Nevis Range and Glencoe to be very quiet with no lift queues whatsoever.
By the way, Winterhighland website is excellent for up to date info/photos/weather/pistemaps etc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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bug - I'm up in Stirling on Tuesday and over to Ayr on Wednesday. I've tried but the logistics of getting up to Cairngorm or Glenshee are just too nightmarish to contend with so I'm giving up on my plan to grab a sneaky day skiing 
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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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halfhand, so why not have fun on Nevis (or Glencoe) then. Sounds like it should be great (see http://www.winterhighland.info/ )
Or did you mean they were no good either?
I've gone up from London in the past and returned all the way home late at night on the last (usually third) day after a full day skiing. Perfectly do-able.
I'd do it now but my wife has got rather cross about the idea of me doing yet more skiing (as well as the 2 more weeks already booked).
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halfhand, Glencoe is only an hour and a half from Stirling...
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You know it makes sense.
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imull, let us know how it goes.
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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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shall do. Looks like I will be heading in one of my work trucks so thinking that Nevis will be the sensible option as its not quite as quick as my car  Just hope they open up the lifts at the left hand side of the pistemap so that I can go have a play over there too.
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Poster: A snowHead
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If you mean the back bowl (Braveheart lift) the info today says it is currently off-piste. But perhaps they might open it at the weekend and run the back lifts. The back is my favourite Scottish skiing but the entry is very steep (steepest at the right and progressively less as you go left). Once you are there you can ski the easier lower-down skiing using Braveheart, or if Braveheart is not open you need to traverse out left from half way down. However I suspect you may feel it is too much for you. (See my TR in the TRs at the top of this forum). Mind you, I hope you can do it.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for that snowball. I am happy enough with skiing that, its the girlfriend who is less confident and only at the stage of just about linking parallel turns - I certainly wouldn't take her there. From reading your (excellent) report, it would probably push me a little, but is far from too much.
Unless I can find someone else to ski with though, I will not be going off piste over the back. I have seen someone come a cropper on their own once and dread to think how long it took to get any sort of help 
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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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snowball, arv, Just bugged that the work schedule may prevent me from getting up there. However, despite my earlier post I'll take my kit and keep my options open 
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| snowball wrote: |
| imull, let us know how it goes. |
Here goes...
It all started going wrong when my car failed its MOT. It looked like I was going to be taking one of the work trucks, so decided in the end on Nevis as it was the closest. Fortunately, Mum and Dad surprisingly (amazingly) lent me their Jag, but as I had done the research for Nevis I headed there anyway.
Got up at 6ish, left at about 7.15 for the ferry via my car for the ipod. Just missed the second ferry at Corran by about 1 minute so sat for 30 mins staring at the snow through the breaks in the cloud. Got up to the ski centre and bought ticket and sorted out kit pretty quickly. I imagine, that the queue must be pretty big on a busy day but 10 mins or so saw me heading back to the car with my shoes.
Up onto the snow and then realised that I had no piste map, but decided to wing it as I had been told that the back corries were closed due to low viz and a Considerable avalanche risk. Not worth the risk with no off piste kit, especially as I was on my lonesome. A couple of wee trips down Alpha while I sorted out my boots and got my legs into some sort of ski mode before heading over towards the Summit. I spent most of the day playing around on the Goose and Warrens Tows and the runs that they serviced.
Having only ever skied in the Alps or Hillend in Edinburgh, I was taken by surprise by the way that the slopes are groomed. On my first pass down Goose, I was heading down with some big sweeping carved turns when I suddenly flew into some roughish snow that hadnt been groomed. Looking to my left there was a 20 or 30 foot wide strip that was like what I had come down. Once I knew it was there, it was fine, but first time onto it I got a bit of a shock
The snow was pretty good from the start of Goose T bar upwards/across but quite soft and slushy down to the Restaurant. Some patches of ice but nothing different from La Clusaz. It is understandable that the runs out there are a lot smoother/better prepared, but it was nice to ski somewhere that wasnt like a billiard table. It certainly showed me where I had weak points in my technique and forced me to deal with an issue that I didnt notice all week when skiing over Christmas 
All in all, I had a cracking day and will be making a point of heading over the water for a few more days before the season is over hopefully. All in I reckon it cost me just under £95 for the day. I skied from probably 10.30 through to 2.30. I would have skied for another hour or so, but was suffering from really bad cramp in the outside of my right foot. Weirdly, it only seemed to affect me on the lifts - can anyone think what would cause this?
One near death experience when someone cut through the tow into my path. Admittedly, I was travelling pretty quickly and didnt notice him until a bit too late, but he just skied into my path. By the time I sorted myself out, I was going very fast straight towards the snack hut at the bottom of Goose. Had to go round the back side of it through the rocks and god knows how i stayed on my feet and didnt hit anyone as I shot into the lift area. Certainly something I never ever want to repeat, and quite rightly got a bit of a ticking off by an isntructor when I got back to the top of the lift Would have been nice if the other guy had even acknowledged me when looking down from the snack hut afterwards
One final note to thank the person who found my car keys.
My inside pocked with (parents) car keys, my blackberry and ipod in somehow came open and the keys made a bid for freedom very early on in the day. Fortunately someone spotted them and picked them up. He came into the lift area waving them around and quite literally saved my bacon. A massive thanks to whoever you are Lesson learned to put all valuables in the rucksack......
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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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| Quote: |
quite literally saved my bacon
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Shouldn't that be "quite metaphorically saved my bacon"
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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good point 
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imull, glad you had fun. Did you go and look at the back?
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No I didnt. It was pretty thick cloud over there most of the times that I went up the summit button.
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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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snowball, someone posted a photo of the back corries on winterhighland the other day...
imull, glad you enjoyed it and managed to hold on to the Blackberry
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blackberry is replaceable and to be honest, an insurance claim on it would be about the best thing for it at the moment. phoning Dad to ask him to take 2 ferries and a 60 mile drive to give me the spare car keys would have caused a little friction
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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quite literally saved my bacon........Shouldn't that be "quite metaphorically saved my bacon"
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imull
You could have responded to say "No, as I am a salesman and purveyor of pork products - and my car was full of the said produce - finding the car keys "literally saved my bacon...." 
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