 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello!
A chum and I were musing on the possibilities of a weekend trip up to Scotland from Yorkshire, at some point in January. The idea is just to hoy the skis in the car and go. Which of the Scottish resorts would people reccomend? Also, can you suggest cheap and cheerful hostel accommodation to go with 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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I can recommend the Bank Street Lodge, in Fort William. Nevis Range is just up the road in one direction, Glencoe isn't especially far in the other direction.
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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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Nevis, Glencoe, Cairngorm, Glenshee, and Lecht.
In that order.
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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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Best place to ski in Scotland is wherever has the best snow at the time and it is not predictable. I would plan the trip but book accommodation last minute according to where the snow is / what the forecast is.
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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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As T bar said, it's so unpredictable, plenty of accomadation to chose from in Fort William, there is a Youth Hostel in Glencoe village the same at Aviemore both just a short drive to the slopes, never done Glenshee or Lecht so not sure about accomadation for them. Hope you get the snow 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If you want intermediate pistes go for Cairngorm. Glencoe is small but has loads of character and one piste which is very steep . If you want challenge ski Nevis and get someone to show you the back-bowl (or follow the line of posts slightly uphill to your left at the top)
There have been several threads on this recently. Try the search function top left.
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If the Braveheart's not working I'd put Glencoe ahead of Nevis. Definitely nos 1&2 from the south - easier to get to. If its a weekend I'd put Glenshee ahead of Cairngorm. Just on the queues. But no 1 priority is the weather. Go wherever the good snow, then good visibility, then least wind is!
Winterhighland does a good forecast for the weekend, usually on a thursday evening.
MWIS update early pm. West Highlands for Nevis and Glencoe. Cairngorm NP for Cairngorm and the Lecht. Glenshee is on the Cairngorm NP/SE Highlands boundary.
Met Office beta site forecasts for the mountains - Aonach Mor = Nevis, Meall a'Bhuiridh = Glencoe, Cairnwell/Carn Aosda/GlasMaol = Glenshee. Haven't tried them out yet but it looks impressive.
Glencoe is closest and Nevis isn't far past it so they are good for a weekend. Rarely worth the 2hrs more driving to get to Cairngorm unless you must have the better Apres ski of Aviemore or conditions are much better (and then it'll be queues+++).
Glencoe is quite a tough ski area. Steep, ungroomed sidecountry with a few easier Blues. Not many lifts but the mountain gently funnels you back towards them. Which is lucky as you often cannot see any lifts when you are on the runs.
Nevis has wider runs but is still quite steep. Some great lift accessed very steep off piste.
Glenshee's runs are fairly short and few are really steep but there are plenty of them.
Cairngorm has quite a lot of terrain but not many lifts so you have to remember/spot where they start. It's easy to get marooned below the lift you want and face a climb 
If the snow is falling, head west - Cairngorm Access road, A939 (Lecht Road) and A93 (to Glenshee) will often shut (steep and >630m). It takes an exceptional snowfall to shut the A82 (not steep and 300m). Smartphones have really sorted this problem though. I drove up last year through heavy snow (from the border) but when I picked up my mate in Stirling the A93 was still posted open and we spent an awesome Saturday at Glenshee with no sunshine and no queues while Glencoe was in the clouds. The snow was definitely lighter at Glenshee, hence the open road. Still fully open and good snow on most runs. The next day Glenshee was heaving and we were at a sunny and queueless Glencoe skiing in 18" freshies 
All the ski areas have webcams. Glenshee (having been the last to get anything) now have a good Panorama, but you can't see most of the best slopes as they are in other valleys, but for a view of the conditions it's very useful - just make sure it's updating.
Lecht Panorama shows almost the whole ski area but only updates 4 x a day.
Nevis also have a Panorama but it is from the bottom of the slopes so it seriously undersells the snow. Look at what is right in the distance at the top of the mountain (in the closeups). That is where most of the skiing is and ignore the foreground.
Glencoe's webcam's have almost all been damaged by a storm earlier this month; 3 still working but the summit cam often covered in snow and the SSC hut cam shows scenery and a scoured ridge. Difficult to judge the cover from them at the moment. Access them from winterhighland.
Cairngorm's webcams are a mess - unable to read the date stamps and difficult to judge the cover. The winterhighland views from the SSC hut are more helpful.
There's accommodation choices all over - theres been a few useful posts on this so try a search or ask again.
Finally, check that there isn't a Rangers home match finishing when you are planning on driving through Glasgow. The M8 will be like a bad nightmare: rush hour, but full of gloating/grumpy fans = not pleasant. Avoid by using A84/M9/M80/M73. Roadworks all completed that route too, only adds a couple of miles and a nice scenic drive to the motorway (as is A82).
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what...snow, the Nevis panorama cam has moved IIRC.
The best way to avoid the football traffic is to come off at Cathedral St. and head down the A82 from there, I reckon.
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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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Alans deep bath,
The angle may have been adjusted but it's still a view from the roof of the restaurant which is a lot of blue/green run below the upper slopes.
Driving through Glasgow, I mean heading southeast and homeward. I've got onto the M8 East at jct 17/18/19 on a Sunday afternoon psyched up for a swift drive south to be faced with standstill traffic in Royal Blue so many times! Loads of gers fans seem to live in Lanarkshire. Might be better with the new M74 but I'm still going to avoid it whenever possible. And the A84 is no slower than the A82.
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Brilliant! Thanks for the help folks, I'll come back to you an let you know how we get on!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Alans deep bath, You are right. Pity you can't do a full 360 and look down the hill. And the Goose continues to look fine.
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