 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello,
My friend is a primary school teacher who learnt to ski at Tamworth this year. Being a teacher he is both poor and unable to ski at any other time than school holidays. As much as I like the guy I can't afford to holiday in half term and subsidise his trip, so I was thinking of taking a long weekend trip to Scotland, maybe up on a Thursday night, 3 days skiing and back on the Tuesday.
I know absolutely nothing about skiing in Scotland, where to go, where to stay, etc.
Is what I am thinking of feasible and if so, any tips would be gladly welcomed.
Oh and I could potentially borrow a campervan - is this feasible in terms of having places to park up and stay?
Thanks
K
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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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kosciosco, if the snow is good, Scottish ski areas are likely to be very busy. Persuade him to go somewhere high in the Easter holidays. 
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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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kosciosco, one of my colleagues has been up to Glenshee the past 2 Feb 1/2 terms, and wild camped (in a tent) just outside the ski area. certainly if you have a campervan and don't mind not having a hook up, then it is feasible. You could potentially park up in the ski area car park and camp there. The law in Scotland allows you to wild camp, provided you do it responsibly.
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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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one of my colleagues has been up to Glenshee the past 2 Feb 1/2 terms, and wild camped (in a tent) just outside the ski area.
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Elizabeth B, you have some tough colleagues!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Elizabeth B, 2 years ago Feb half term at Glenshee was a total sh*tshow. I wouldn't advise anyone to visit Glenshee at that time of year.
In saying that, Glenshee are happy enough to have camper vans parked in their car park.
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Scotia, Glenshee was in fantastic condition at Half term this year, all Scotlands Ski Areas were. Obviously it's just pot luck from year to year. I would advise anyone to just keep an eye on the Snow and Weather forecasts, check here and of course Winterhighland.info.
Kosciosco, with a bit of luck, conditions will be good at all 5 ski areas during February. With a campervan, you could ski 2 or 3 areas during your trip. As Elizabeth B mentions, if you can do without hook up, generally you can park up for the night in the Ski Area car parks. At Glenshee, most of the vans park overnight in the small car park beside the Ski Patrol/Ticket Office/ Ski Hire buildings.
If you arrive at any of the Ski Areas and it's either snowing or forecast to snow overnight, seek advice from Ski Patrol or Maintenance Staff with regard to where they would prefer you to park, so as not to get in the way of the snow clearing operations next morning.
Camping at Ski Areas also means you can sort out your lift tickets before the masses arrive, thus enjoying an hour or two skiing before the slopes get too busy.
If you head North at Half-Term, i hope you enjoy your trip.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Mon 22-11-10 23:53; edited 1 time in total
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Backcountryboarder, it was in fantastic condition 2 years ago as well and because of this it was so busy had I not been working I wouldn't have bothered to get out the car.
Not to mention that if the snow is good the road will almost certainly be closed
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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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Managed to get to Glenshee many times over the last 26 years when the snow has been good and the road has been open.
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Backcountryboarder, ah one of the lucky few 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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HI I as up Glenshee last winter 2 times and the skiing was great and the roads were fine and went up in my 25 ft motorhome
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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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if the snow is good, Scottish ski areas are likely to be very busy
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For some reason, in my experience, this never seems to apply at Nevis Range - last season we had a powder day with sun and no queues. There were still fresh tracks to be had on our last run of the day 
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Posted before but here's some photographic evidence of Scottish queueing (or otherwise). Glenshee can get busy because they can just batter out another carpark at the roadside. Busy unless road blocked from south (but rarely as bad as CairnGorm)
Glencoe can't. Queues 10-15mins max any weekend, usually much less. Get there early or the carpark is full.
Cairngorm is always busy at the weekend.
The Lecht can be reasonably busy, or completely dead.
Nevis - well see for yourself. That's a saturday with great conditions Feb 09. Last visit in March 2010 - same queues - except it was quite busy on the 'baby' tows (Lochy/Linnhe)
http://picasaweb.google.com/neil2829/Queues#
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FAQ
s have put a a lot of information on there.
