 Poster: A snowHead
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As detailed in this thread, a group of snowHeads met up for a weekend bash at Cairngorm, 25-27 March 2011. This is a report based on travelling up from London.
The journey
Five of us travelled from London on the overnight sleeper on Friday night, leaving London Euston at 9.15 pm and arriving at Aviemore 7.55 am, with similar return times for the Sunday evening. I, Iski, Ray Zorro and Spud9 had sleeper berths in 2 cabins and holidayloverxx had a reclining seat. I think we all got at least 4 or 5 hours sleep on the journey up, probably helped by the wee drinkie we may have had beforehand….well OK, the three hours in the pub before the train left, the two bottles of fizz bought at M&S and drunk on the train and the two bottles of wine in the lounge car 
The berths were quite comfy, proper duvet, sheets and 2 pillows. And no noise from people on the train (well probably apart from us) although the train itself was a bit noisy, especially when going slowly or splitting into 3 at Edinburgh. However, we got to Aviemore on time and were welcomed by some fine drizzly rain – there’s probably a technical term for it in Scotland.
The B&B
We five stayed at the Ravenscraig on the main road up from the train station. I would highly recommend them, they were very helpful offering us breakfast the morning we arrived (which was very welcome and extremely yummy) and giving us 3 girls an extra room at no extra cost, rather than the triple room originally booked. Our rooms were free that morning so we were able to leave our bags there and could, if we’d had time, had a quick shower. But breakfast was more important… which was great with a very wide choice of porridge, cereals, toast, full cooked, scrambled eggs & smoked salmon, poached eggs etc. The rooms were nice & clean and we were able to leave our gear at the guesthouse on the Sunday morning to pick up after that days skiing.
The only downside to the B&B for me was its location from the train station, about 10-15 mins walk. It really was just a bit too far for me to walk with my luggage and I am very grateful to Ray Zorro with helping me out with my bag. Must be the first time he’s ever been of use . However, although the arrival of the sleeper train coincides with their busy breakfast period, Ravenscraig have said they would try to help out with a lift from the station for a future stay if contacted in advance. Alternatively, as Iski suggests below, one person could take a taxi with all the luggage. (Edited to reflect response from Ravenscraig re transport of luggage)
The ski bus to Cairngorm picks up from right outside, at the bus stop that was cunningly disguised as a metal post with little blank metal square attached. Runs once an hour at about 10 past, costs £3.45 return, takes about 20 mins.
The skiing
I was really pleasantly surprised by the extent and range of the runs at Cairngorm, something for everyone and quite sufficient to keep you occupied for the weekend. We didn’t really have any queues apart from waiting for the funicular, which wasn’t very long, and one of the t-bars at the main hub. Got the hang of dismounting from the t-bars OK, but I’m glad we were warned about it. The snow was much better than I expected – on the Saturday we were on the slopes by about 10.30 I think, and the snow was lovely, nice and soft. A couple of the runs had a bit of rock dodging – was it the M2 in particular?, but enjoyed the ‘famous’ runs of White Lady, Gunbarrel and Nessie. There was a sense of being able to ‘travel’ round the mountain, not just taking a lift up to ski down. Although with no resting on chairlifts it did become apparent that legs were getting tired, especially as the snow got heavier. Which it did particularly on the Saturday, got quite heavy and sticky.
On Sunday we were out on the slopes quite a bit earlier, especially with the clock change and the first run down White Lady was really not pleasant. Rock hard frozen ruts and not nice. But after a coffee stop the slopes had softened up nicely and had a really nice day skiing.
We had all types of weather throughout the two days: sun, snow, cloud, hot, cold….some lovely views.
The company
I think this is the rollcall of snowHeads who went or who we met there:
cathy, holidayloverxx, Iski, Ray Zorro, Spud9, Smokin Joe, Snowbird, roga, II, Dave Horsley, Alastair Pink, andytb, bfg & friend, Snowball, ledge & 5 friends, Sofia, Winterhighland, moffatross, bergmeister & mrs b. Sorry if I’ve missed anyone off
The cost
As a weekend trip from London this is what it would have cost, if we managed to get the cheapest priced sleeper berths. Some of our group did manage this.....
£120 – return on the sleeper train with a berth. £60 return for a reclining seat. Bargain berths are available from £19 single, with limited availability
£38 – B&B accommodation for one night and an additional breakfast the morning we arrived
£58 – lift pass for 2 days
£7 – ski bus for 2 days
£115 – approximate spending money for drinks & meals, including in London before the train left.
Total – approximately £340 for the weekend’s skiing.
The verdict
Was it worth it getting the overnight sleeper just for the weekend? Yes, absolutely in my view. To be able to have 2 full days’ skiing with no time off work was great. It seemed like we were away for much longer than just a weekend and I did survive the day back at work on the Monday, although I really did need the shower in the gym that morning  . It was great fun skiing with other snowHeads and we had a lot of laughs 
I haven’t commented on the ski hire as I brought my own up, but I know others were less than impressed with Aviemore Ski Hire. We bought our lift tickets there as well.
Main comment: Cairngorm should really try to get their act together with the Caledonian Sleeper and market this as an afforable package. We booked our sleeper berths the day they became available and even then didn’t all manage to get the cheapest price. Yet our train coming back must have been about 25% full I’d say – there were only 2 other cabins in my carriage with people and there seemed to be a distinct lack of people getting off the train at Euston. Don’t really know how full it was going up, but there didn’t seem to be all that many people around.
Comments from others after the trip here.
Would I consider doing it again? Yes, for sure & would really recommend anyone considering to give it a go.
Once again, many many thanks to roga for being so helpful with all us clueless southerners
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 1-04-11 9:50; edited 7 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'll decorate with some pictures later 
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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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| cathy wrote: |
| However, we got to Aviemore on time and were welcomed by some fine drizzly rain – there’s probably a technical term for it in Scotland. |
"Summer".
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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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I'm so glad you had a good trip. I would love to haul myself back up to Scotland some time. Maybe next year eh. When you first posted on FB I'd forgotten you were part of the Scotland gang, and just assumed it was France 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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cathy, Words for low cloud/mist and drizzle:-
Mizzle
Dreach (not sure how it's spelt, but this is the word a Scottish friend uses)
Claggy (The word I've used since childhood in the North East)
That's a good comprehensive trip report by the way. The only point i would dispute would be the distance of the Ravenscraig from the railway station. In my view it's well within easy walking distance with luggage. Ten minutes of flat walking along pavement. I accept that some would need to have wheeled luggage if carrying a lot of stuff plus skis. I only add this point because I thought the Ravenscraig was a very good place to stay, and I'd hate them to lose business because it was perceived to be too far from the station. I would happily stay there again. Their flexibility about our early arrival, extra breakfast and gear storage (and changing facility) on Sunday more than makes up for the inconvenience of a short walk.
Anyway. Great trip. Same time next year?
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Great TR, so sorry I missed the fun.
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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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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| cathy wrote: |
| Sorry if I’ve missed anyone off |
Dave Horsley was there on Sunday...
Good report pleased you enjoyed yourself
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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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| cathy wrote: |
| Mr Technique - I did chuckle at that, you assuming I was somewhere in the Alps |
Well you know, the crap food, the miserable locals. It's an easy mistake to make!
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cathy, Did you phone Ravenscraig before arrival and request a pickup from the station?
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Usually the sleeper is well-filled - it's unusual for it to have many free berths. But on Saturday afternoon, the whole of the East Coast rail network went down through computer failure with most trains between Edinburgh and York cancelled so I wonder if that contributed to the empty train?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great TR there cathy.
I really enjoyed the weekend and meeting everyone, although I fear I wasn't quite my usual bouncy self (lol) what with having a bit of a bug.
It's always very interesting to read/hear the views of people who are new to Scottish skiing (or haven't been for years) and I'd say someone at Cairngorm should have a read too - fresh views are always pretty instructive, particularly from people who are well versed in skiing elsewhere.
Obviously I can't comment on the B&B and the train, it's years since I used the sleeper but I remember it as being great fun as a kid when we were usually travelling in the opposite direction to spend time in London.
With regards the skiing I think we found pretty average conditions overall in terms of piste condition, it was soft at times and hard first thing but that's not uncommon at this time of year. One of the great jokes about Scottish skiing is that you'll get every weather condition and season in a day and I think we were close to that barring the wind (which was thankfully absent) but overall it was pretty good I thought and particularly nice to see quite a lot of sun on Saturday (silly me forgetting to put any sun block on lol).
cathy, I really like your "There was a sense of being able to 'travel' round the mountain, not just taking a lift up to ski down" comment, which I think is spot on and one of the great things about Cairngorm - it's particularly good that after a few days experience beginners can ski top to bottom on greens and blues. The Scottish ski areas all differ in feel but I recall at half-term I was really pleased to get back to Cairngorm after a couple of days when we skied at The Lecht due to wind at the Gorm. It's that sense of actually being on a mountain and being able to travel around it that's a real bonus, something that The Lecht can't offer although it's fantastic for beginners and families.
Glad the t-bars weren't too much hassle, they're kinda quirky it has to be said lol!
With regards the "rock dodging" yes it was the M2 that was particularly dodgy - the base had softened up so much the snow was being pushed off the rocks and turning at points was a matter of dodging the rocks. It's a lovely run when it's in condition and has some good steeper sections (these were the rockier bits) and then you can drop into the Aonach area for a bit of steeper red territory (snow was okay down there). If the rest of the M2 is open, which it wasn't this weekend, there's a very nice steeper section down to the Day Lodge so you get a real sense of skiing the whole mountain on that one run. Even better when the off piste areas above the funicular station are open and you can ski down there - even through the (dwarf) trees ... well there are one or two stunted pines lol!
Glad you enjoyed the famous runs too but yeah it's east to forget how much the legs get tired when just using drag lifts, chairs are lovely for a rest at the end of a long run ... as long as you don't drop your belongings as you go up them
If you thought the Lady "was really not pleasant", and I don't doubt that was the case, you should have tried the M1 on Sunday - boy was that run crazy and not terribly pleasant, completely frozen up with icy bumps and ruts, got off that into Coire Cas as soon as we could when I did it with Ledge and his friends (I felt a trice guilty for enticing them down there  ). The Gunbarrel was great though after that, nice and soft and quite fast - I forgot to mention that under all that snow there's a big stream too, I reckon there must be at least a couple of metres in there at points.
"After a coffee stop the slopes had softened up nicely and had a really nice day skiing", I think that's one of the keys to Scottish skiing (and often to spring skiing anywhere), it's it's rotten have a break and head back out later by which time conditions will probably have changed and fun may be had (or you can head back in for another coffee )
Spot on points about the marketing the train/sleeper too, I think they are really missing a trick there to be honest although Colin at Cairngorm has been talking about doing some sort of train offer but only for people from the central belt in Scotland. The real winner for people in London as far as I can see is the possibility of not missing any work time but getting two *full* days of skiing in - seems to me that's something they should market particularly with some pretty good seasons happening north of the border.
I'll finish with a couple of things, first for a laugh a cartoon from the old days of the Cairngorm chairlift that always makes me chuckle:
You might recognise some or all of the runs depicted but probably can't read the sign in the bottom left of the piccy, titled "Danger" but here's what it says:
| Quote: |
DANGER
- Avalanches
- Out-of-control-skiers!
- Ski instructors
- Damage to rocks by skis!
WEATHER FORECAST -
Sunny periods with snow, gale, rain, fog & storm!
THE WHITE LADY IS NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY! |
Might ring a few bells eh!
Secondly, and more poignantly for me here's a poem, introduced in the words of my dad (who died in 2006) that is perhaps appropriate for those who travelled overnight from London, it also sums up for me the magic of the Cairngorms in all seasons and could perhaps sum up the feelings of many people travelling away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to the hills and mountains they love.
| Quote: |
I first heard this poem from the late G R Mackenzie in the early fifties, but it was originally found written on the door of Ryvoan Bothy, inscribed by some anonymous hand. It was fortunately copied before the door was destroyed.
I found it of personal solace when I was a student apprentice in the South of England in the later fifties, yearning for my native hills. Indeed, I used to catch the seven-thirty sleeper from Euston (steam, of course) and from Perth in early morning I would see the hills again…
I LEAVE TONIGHT FROM EUSTON
I shall leave tonight from Euston
By the seven-thirty train,
And from Perth in the early morning
I shall see the hills again.
From the top of Ben Macdhui
I shall watch the gathering storm,
And see the crisp snow lying
At the back of Cairngorm.
I shall feel the mist from Bhrotain
And pass by Lairig Ghru
To look on dark Loch Einich
From the heights of Sgoran Dubh.
From the broken Barns of Bynack
I shall see the sunshine gleam
On the forehead of Ben Rinnes
And Strathspey awake from dream
And again in the dusk of evening
I shall find once more alone
The dark water of the Green Loch
And the pass beyond Ryvoan
For tonight I leave from Euston
And leave the world behind;
Who has the hills as a lover'
Will find them wondrous kind. |
It was probably a bit misty early Saturday morning to see much in the way of hills and mountains but on days when you can see the whole range of the Cairngorms it's a fine sight and must have been all the more so in the days when people were less mobile and couldn't just grab a flight to the Alps (or Scotland) and were arriving at Perth and then Aviemore after a long train journey from the south.
Anyway, great meeting everyone and well done to all, thanks for coming up and just remember you can all glow with stisfaction because if you can ski Scotland you can ski anywhere!
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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.
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roga, I realise you have a particular interest (maybe a passion) in Cairngorm but I still have mixed views of it. My two boys cut their skiing teeth on the hill from 94 to 97 and 99 (4ish days every Easter) but of a potential 20ish days they probably got to ski half of those due to bad weather. I particularly remember 97 when the hill was closed 3 or 4 days in a row due to wind so we stayed on the Friday when there was superb powder but freezing cold and ridiculously long lift queue (as only the Cas was operating). Still at least the Sheiling was still open then (now a forlorn sight assuming not demolished yet). So memories are mixed. I was younger then and would ski in wind and rain (not now, no way) and there were a few days over the years when I skied alone and my wife took the boys to Santa Claus land or somesuch.
We came to the conclusion that a "ski" holiday to Scotland should be regarded more as just a holiday where you might get to ski unlike a ski holiday to the Alps where you get to ski every day usually IME. Last Easter we went up for a couple of days (my wife had a shoulder injury and couldn't ski) so I skied with my younger son (the older one has lost interest in skiing and he's a sporty person!) . Snow was plentiful, as you'll remember, but rather soft and lumpy. On the second (sunny and still) day, around lunchtime, my son gave me the expression as if to say "Is this it then?". We had pretty much skied what we could in both corries a few times and I understood his attitude. So we dragged it out until about 2.00pm then skied down to the Ciste carpark where the car was parked and left. BTW the absence of the Ciste chair has ruined that side of the hill - ONE drag lift to serve any decent runs (of any length I mean).
I'm glad those who went up last weekend enjoyed it but I still think it's a big expense for what could be awful weather / poor snow / hill closed / all of these (unless you're very lucky). I don't mean to put a downer on the place as we enjoyed it in the past as a "holiday" e.g. walking round Loch Morlich, seeing the reindeer herd etc. But JUST as a skiing destination - I'd have to live within an easy drive to want to go, say Stirling, Perth maybe. Unless I could get a cheap flight deal (to Inverness) of course........Regards.
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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: |
| The real winner for people in London as far as I can see is the possibility of not missing any work time but getting two *full* days of skiing in - seems to me that's something they should market particularly with some pretty good seasons happening north of the border. |
Last winter the Crianlarich Hotel got over 3,000 bed nights from their Glencoe Skiers Special - this translated into possibly more than that ski days at Glencoe and represented between 10 and 15% of Glencoe's skier days for the season. A couple of times I stayed in the hotel mid-week, the place was rocking and had a great vibe about it when otherwise it would have been dead, indeed it was the first winter season the hotel had been open for in a long time. A good proportion of people were arriving on the sleeper in Crianlarich.
Unfortunately the manager and owner had a parting of the ways and I gather the owner was unhappy with the low rates being charged - this year the rates were hiked considerably, the free transport removed and I stayed at the hotel once and it was dead and the word was that hardly anyone was staying for skiing. By offering free transport and setting such a low winter rate the Crianlarich Hotel created two new markets out of nothing last season:
1. Making it possible to access Glencoe by public transport, folk stayed at the hotel arriving by train and bus.
2. Had a low enough price point to get usual day trippers from West Central Scotland to make overnight stays, thus skiing 2 or more days instead of 1 at a time.
Esp 2 was exceptionally price sensitive and the market has just vanished as quick as it appeared in the face of the higher rates. With rising fuel costs there is clearly a market to tap into here where it becomes better value for day trippers to make weekend visits and stay overnight. Hopefully the management and owners will contrast this and last season and go back to what they had last year, because it was an exceptional and hugely successful offer in a hotel uniquely well placed to tie in with the sleeper. Glencoe could certainly do with an extra couple of thousand skier days this season!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Iski wrote: |
| roga, Great! I really enjoyed both the cartoon and the poem They seem to sum up both sides of the Scottish skiing experience. I was trying to explain it to my OH but unfortunately I think I only managed to convey the cartoon element |
LOL, I like the cartoon element too 
billb, all very fair points I feel and if you think I deny the downsides you've probably missed some of my comments elsewhere because I don't think I do.
As I mentioned above at half term we were 'blown off' Cairngorm for 3 of the 7 days and went to The Lecht with the kids which my wife loved - she's a cautious snowplougher and isn't totally into the mountain experience it has to be said. However it was lovely and sunny at The Lecht with hardly any of the wind that dogged Cairngorm so there are other skiing options but I appreciate The Lecht might be a little tame for many - great runs for high speed carving practice though!
In this context though we're talking about a weekend trip from the SE of England giving 2 full days of skiing as it turned out, yes we were lucky enough to have most runs open and the overheads were pretty good too but if seen as a potential bonus on top of a holiday or two in the Alps (and/or elsewhere) with no need for time off work it's not a bad option but you're right that there's a chance of no skiing if the weather doesn't play ball whereas even a day in the Alps is more or less guaranteed to give you skiing because of the more predictable conditions. Some of the guys up from London were presuming that the weekend would probably end up being a social get together off the mountain with little to ski so on that basis I think they were very pleasantly surprised by what they found (I'm sure someone can confirm or deny my comments there ).
| billb wrote: |
| roga, I realise you have a particular interest (maybe a passion) in Cairngorm |
Yes, I guess I have both an interest in (I work for one of the ski schools there) and a passion for the place. The latter comes from the fact I grew up skiing there and have many happy memories of the area, you'll find most people who grew up with a mountain have a special place for it in their hearts. I'd also argue it's the one place (Aviemore and the valley) in the UK where there is a proper snowsports culture and I think that fact alone makes it pretty special I guess. Again I don't pretend there are bigger (perhaps even better ) places to ski in the world but it is 'ours' and we should be proud of that fact IMHO.
| Quote: |
| We came to the conclusion that a "ski" holiday to Scotland should be regarded more as just a holiday where you might get to ski unlike a ski holiday to the Alps where you get to ski every day usually IME. Last Easter we went up for a couple of days (my wife had a shoulder injury and couldn't ski) so I skied with my younger son (the older one has lost interest in skiing and he's a sporty person!) . Snow was plentiful, as you'll remember, but rather soft and lumpy. On the second (sunny and still) day, around lunchtime, my son gave me the expression as if to say "Is this it then?". We had pretty much skied what we could in both corries a few times and I understood his attitude. So we dragged it out until about 2.00pm then skied down to the Ciste carpark where the car was parked and left. |
Fair points, I guess it depends what you want out of a ski - it's certainly not a place to rack up enormous mileage skiing loads of different runs although it could be argued that the often varying conditions make every single time you ski a run different.
| Quote: |
| BTW the absence of the Ciste chair has ruined that side of the hill - ONE drag lift to serve any decent runs (of any length I mean). |
I totally agree and here's the campaign website: http://savetheciste.com/campaign/
BTW, the current management at Cairngorm intend to get the chairs working again, starting with the lower lift.
| Quote: |
| I'm glad those who went up last weekend enjoyed it but I still think it's a big expense for what could be awful weather / poor snow / hill closed / all of these (unless you're very lucky). I don't mean to put a downer on the place as we enjoyed it in the past as a "holiday" e.g. walking round Loch Morlich, seeing the reindeer herd etc. |
Well, to quote my post above:
| roga wrote: |
| Quote: |
DANGER
- Avalanches
- Out-of-control-skiers!
- Ski instructors
- Damage to rocks by skis!
WEATHER FORECAST -
Sunny periods with snow, gale, rain, fog & storm!
THE WHITE LADY IS NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY! |
Might ring a few bells eh! |
| Quote: |
| But JUST as a skiing destination - I'd have to live within an easy drive to want to go, say Stirling, Perth maybe. Unless I could get a cheap flight deal (to Inverness) of course........Regards. |
Fair doos but I think you perhaps miss the original point of the trip, it was a weekend 'raid' with the potential of some skiing which turned out to be pretty good for most people actually - it certainly wasn't pitched as a 'cancel the holiday to St Anton' and head to Cairngorm for a week kind of thing!
Having said that ask nbt how he got on a week or two before when he was up for 2 weeks - I think it was his second time skiing in Scotland and I seem to recall he commented that it was one of the best holidays he'd ever had - 9 days of skiing IIRC, some of which was after massive dumps the likes of which some parts of the Alps have spent most of the season dreaming about! The moral being it can be cr*p but it can be wonderful, in fact as good if not better than some of the 'usual' destinations!
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Winterhighland, yes and they must have suffered from that 'other' hotel going t*ts up too! 
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roga, you wouldn't happen to know where I can get a print of that delightful picture?
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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 forgot to say above that I was also really chuffed to see a wild cat out behind the place I was staying in on Sunday - a proper wild wild cat!
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| andytb wrote: |
| roga, you wouldn't happen to know where I can get a print of that delightful picture? |
I picked up the original poster back in the 80s but it's now out of print (there's one up in the Doo Below alongside all the other memorabilia), I think the original is probably A1 size.
If you send me your e-mail addy and I can send you a high quality scan that'll do you a nice A4 print on either standard or photo paper. (If you have a large format printer it'll be good enough to give you a larger print too.)
They still sell the Lecht version in the shop there and there was also a set of postcards (and posters) of a ski instructor, a beginner and an instructor who has crashed (sorry, pre-released) in front of his class.
If anyone else fancies a copy just PM me with your e-mail addy too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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roga, I had that as a poster in my bedroom a few (well maybe quite a few) years ago....
Did snowball get much/some/any off piste in???
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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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| roga wrote: |
| Having said that ask nbt how he got on a week or two before when he was up for 2 weeks - I think it was his second time skiing in Scotland and I seem to recall he commented that it was one of the best holidays he'd ever had - 9 days of skiing IIRC, some of which was after massive dumps the likes of which some parts of the Alps have spent most of the season dreaming about! The moral being it can be cr*p but it can be wonderful, in fact as good if not better than some of the 'usual' destinations! |
That reminds me, I must sort out the trip report!
| billb wrote: |
We came to the conclusion that a "ski" holiday to Scotland should be regarded more as just a holiday where you might get to ski unlike a ski holiday to the Alps where you get to ski every day usually IME. |
yes, that's the conclusion we came to, as well. Although we did get out and ski on 9 days, not all of the were great - skiing for one hour in pouring rain at Glenshee is not one of the highlights of my skiing career, but it counts as one of those days! What made it a good holiday for us was all the stuff that was around the skiing - I love the people (mostly), the countryside, the wildlife and everything, and the fact that we got a few days of fab skiing thanks to great conditions topped it off - at the start of the holiday we were worried as we'd not brought mountain bikes and there was no snow but within few days it was all white. Sadly, less then two weeks later the snow is mostly gone...
anyway, TR later!
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You know it makes sense.
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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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| kitenski wrote: |
| roga, I had that as a poster in my bedroom a few (well maybe quite a few) years ago.... |
Still got it?
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| Did snowball get much/some/any off piste in??? |
A few runs down the headwall, once with us.
| cathy wrote: |
You mean you're normally bouncier than that??  But sorry, I never realised you weren't feeling well - what a brave soul to carry on in the line of sH duty |
LOL, I didn't realise Saturday but was feeling a bit tired - that's my excuse anyway coz my skiing was a bit cr*p that day ... much better Sunday though once I'd dosed myself up lol!
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| I really liked the end part of your poem - very poignant. |
It is isn't it
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| With regards to our expectations and the point of the trip up from London, you've got it spot on roga. For me certainly, and I think the others too, this was a 'cheeky extra'. This season I'd already had a week in the 3 valleys, a week in the 4 valleys and a week in the Skiwelt (not quite sure of the total number of valleys ). And 3 days in Tignes end of Sept/beg Oct. We had to book our train tickets as soon as they were released to get the cheapest price, and we knew it was a gamble as to the conditions. However, that is true wherever you go skiing. I was quite prepared to do some hill-walking or cycling instead and considered any skiing we might get as a bonus. It was going to be a fun get-together whatever. I would say though the condition of the snow was better in Cairngorm than in the Skiwelt a few weeks previously. |
I particularly like that last sentence but blimey imagine if the trip had been the weekend before
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| Now then, I must put up on a wall somewhere that original poster that started this whole thing off |
Me too actually!
nbt, yeah get that TR written you lazy get
andytb, show off
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Poster: A snowHead
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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pam w, thanks
I had sent the Ravenscraig a very nice email thanking all the staff for our lovely stay there and how much we enjoyed it. I did also ask if they were able to assist with luggage transport from the station in the future. I think they quite appreciated being thanked and said how much they rely on repeat business and recommendations by word of mouth. With regard to transport, unfortunately the arrival of the sleeper train coincides with their very busy breakfast time - and they were busy! But they would do their best to arrange a lift in the future if they could. So helpful of them. I'll amend my original post to reflect this.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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roga mentioned the Save the Ciste petition over the weekend. I found it here:-
http://savetheciste.com/campaign
I'm probably too late to the party, but I added myself to the petition.
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| Winterhighland wrote: |
Last winter the Crianlarich Hotel got over 3,000 bed nights from their Glencoe Skiers Special - this translated into possibly more than that ski days at Glencoe and represented between 10 and 15% of Glencoe's skier days for the season. |
Think they are still doing discounted lift passes although you have to pay to use their transfer to glencoe.
Price wise though its still a good deal. We have used it to have a few days at glencoe and paid 47.50 a night for B&B, thats not much more than a private room at the syha hostel.
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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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Is that per person? That certainly isn't cheap if so. Two years ago it was easy to find B&B for £25 or less per person in Fort William. It can't be so much more now.
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FAQ
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It was really good to meet you at last 
