 Poster: A snowHead
|
| mountainaddict wrote: |
Bad news James the Last - and perhaps Cairngorm have been a little hasty with their decision..... 
|
Nope, this was forecast to happen and I'm sure they'll have known, can't imagine they'll reopen even though I'm hoping.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Ptarmigan viewing terrace this morning:
Bang the drum on Facebook, you never know! Should be more tonight according to the NMM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
mountainaddict, My guess would be demand. At some point it costs more to facilitate the skiing then it brings in. Even with just running the train ;(
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| Ronald wrote: |
| mountainaddict, My guess would be demand. At some point it costs more to facilitate the skiing then it brings in. Even with just running the train ;( |
But don't they run the train anyway for non-skiing visitors?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
They do, but they'd need to have ski patrol on standby, run a piste basher etc when they facilitate skiing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some of the Ski Patrol are full time year round employees. There is massively more snow on the mountain this weekend than at the end of the past 2 seasons. I can not recall CairnGorm closing with the White Lady still complete! This is a ski area that could have been open, was expected to be open, have the staff and resources in place to still be open and frankly should have been open. That said it's the disingenuous manor this has been handled that particularly grates.
Perhaps lifts turning in the last weekend of May for 3 out 4 years would be 'off message' with the 'two swallows don't make a summer' type guff that spilled forth from what supposedly constitues the marketing department! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Should add also that having skiing officially on offer means an open system at the top, so sightseers can go out of the Top Station, families can get out and play in the snow. Merely by having snowsports, the resultant open system helps get more people up the Funicular.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A great day touring yesterday - little wind, cloud above tops & sunny spells. To echo Winterhighland, the Ptarmigan Bowl has a lot more snow than the end of previous seasons & the Ptarmigan uptrack is complete. All quite frustrating really...
The Traverse has been ploughed top to bottom - not quite sure why- so has gone from about 15 feet of snow to about 2 inches in the past few days, and is no longer skiable. Ditto the run from the Ptarmigan to the Traverse - pity as the Gunbarrel is still in great nick.
Pick of the runs was Ciste Gully, as ever, & down to the waterfall in Ciste Mhearaidh.
Monday am, 27th May and we are currently sitting in the Cas car park. Conditions are the wildest we've ever seen at this level - wind gusting to barely able to walk levels & horizontal rain. As it's a Monday - & to save a run up here next weekend - the plan was to continue our (home & abroad) run of skiing in every week but one since 24th Dec. We can't contemplate battling too far up the hill in this weather - so are going to brave a few turns on a snow patch near the carpark  ...God knows where the groups from Glenmore Lodge etc that we've seen are hiking to in this weather - it's really not a good day to be out in the mountains.....
Update (27 May at 22.00): Well, the weather window never came - the wind worsened, the rain was incessant.....so, after cups of tea in the car and a 2 hour wait, we decided to go for it anyway. In the end, we skied a snow patch near the foot of the Fiacaill Tow: Bigger than it looked from a distance; about 50m in length; 10m vertical; and nice granular snow. We confess that we are very easily pleased - but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Twelve runs in all and mission accomplished  . Some photos of a cracking weekend are below:
Gunbarrel:
Snow depth on (ploughed) Traverse:
Ptarmigan Building; 'They tried to access the snow but they said no, no, no...'
Into Ciste Mhearaidh:
Just above the waterfall:
Foot of the ptarmigan Tow: Clearly insufficient snow for snowsports....as evidenced by the buried fences:
Ciste Gully: We could be skiing for weeks yet....
Skiable snow patch - viewed from Cas car park:
The snow patch: Driving rain, gale force wind....great fun:
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Mon 27-05-13 23:33; edited 8 times in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
mountainaddict, I wonder why they would plough the snow like you said in the traverse? Maybe Winterhighland, could elaborate?
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
To allow wheeled vehicles to have access to the upper mountain ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How was the season overall in Scotland this year? Were there a lot of skier days?
Sounds like it from reading this thread.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
emwmarine
| Quote: |
| How was the season overall in Scotland this year? |
Very good - if not exceptional (Though I met a bloke at Cairngorm yesterday (hiking not skiing) who'd tried it once but it wasn't for him: Too windy, too foggy - and too many beginners careering about in front of him. Says he's just gonna stick to Switzerland in future....His loss eh?)
| Quote: |
| Were there a lot of skier days? |
I think I read that Cairngorm ended up at about 116,000 - don't know about the other areas though...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
they plough the traverse like that every year - access for works vehicles as suggested (fencing material up for summer maintenance, ski paraphanelia down etc) - they are stunningly efficient at getting it done sadly. Cant think when I saw it deeper - gap jump anyone? 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Must be 4 metres deep???
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
| Quote: |
A fraction of that effort would allow the Ptarmigan Tow to spin for the Bowl from the top of the steep pitch this weekend for lift served June riding
|
Agreed Winterhighland. Given the huge volumes of snow involved, and the length of The Traverse, the amount of work to clear it was indeed absolutely staggering.
As a keen mountain biker, I do think that the Cairngorm biking thing is a bit of a funny one. Good luck to them with visitor/revenue generation etc but, scenic as it may be, a guided descent on wide tracks isn't the sort of thing that would generally appeal to regular MTB riders. IIRC, it's expensive too. I wonder how many people take it up? What is really needed (here we go....) on the mountain biking front, is some form of bike-friendly uplift in the Ciste and some man made/reinforced single track descents over there....A chairlift would be ideal for the purpose. However, unless I've missed something, it's all gone a bit quiet on that score....(Has there been any progress at all with the Save the Ciste campaign/petition?)
Back on the skiing: The other irksome aspect (still!  ) is the reasons given for the end of the season:
- Walking would be required to reach the snow from the Ptarmigan Building (as it was the previous weekend, when they even had a sign up saying 'Walking required').
- (Words to the effect of) thin or broken snow cover at the foot of the Ptarmigan Tow rendered it inoperable. (It didn't look that way last weekend - they must've been banking on no-one skinning/walking up to check it out....)
We're not up this weekend but (weather permitting) could well be seeking out some skiable snow the weekend after . That would continue our run and (after skiing on the Whit Bank Hol last Monday) mean at least one day's skiing (outdoors on snow) in 23 out of the 24 weeks since week commencing 24 Dec 2012 ....Must admit, it's got a bit addictive  ! Just a shame we missed a day in week commencing 7 January - before the bumper North Pennines and Scotland seasons really kicked in and when our run was in its infancy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Looks like they've dug the traverse out for MTBing judging by facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Absolute joke that they don't offer skiing when conditions are still looking like that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ricklovesthepowder, too few punters willing or about, always the same this time of year. cant really blame them too much, plus remember they had to shut before the road got ploughed
^ bet they turned the bikes uphill just for the pics 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| Quote: |
| plus remember they had to shut before the road got ploughed |
Not necessarily, the Traverse has been dug out on occasion before the season ends depending on snow lie elsewhere. For what it's worth, I doubt the sudden end to the ski season had much to do with numbers, skiable cover or lack off, nor for that matter weather.
Anyway back to the snow, just over 26 hours to Meteorological Summer:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Meanwhile in the West....from Glencoe
We have a Midsummer ski planned for Saturday the 22nd June. Weather permitting we plan to run the cliffy for a short period in the morning to make the hike to the snow a little easier. More details to follow nearer the time.
The Main Basin, Spring Run and the Flypaper still have a good cover of snow at the moment and we expect there still to be some good sized patches on midsummer day
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
It had looked as if the weather was in the mood for the first day of Summer, when looking up the Ciste Gully from the carpark in the morning, but as the Sun got to work, the convection got going and there were even a couple of snow showers on the tops!! Snow was a bit sticky and slow at the top, but from the Ciste Bowl down it quickly got faster with good granular spring snow riding in the Ciste Gully and on the White Lady. Month 44 in a row on CairnGorm ticked off. 
If you're really keen to bag a June ski and don't want to do a lot of hiking, get yourself up in the next day or so and walk up to the top of the Zig Zags and ski the Cas Gunbarrel - just watch out for the burn!
^Ciste Gully from below, still complete to level with the boardwalks and still loaded. 2km run or there abouts from the Marquis well, with a brief grass ski in the Ciste Bowl!
^Hiking up the Traverse on route to the Ptarmigan Restaurant for an early lunch!
^Ciste Gully opening up and dropping away. Much faster snow than the last day, great granular spring snow and fair to say the Ciste Gully was still in fantastic shape.
^The White Lady's not done yet... Good granular spring snow, didnt ski the top section by the tunnel as cut over from Ciste. Broken where the elephant fence was, wide in the middle, narrow and thin towards the bottom in places.
Full Report & More Pix: http://www.winterhighland.info/pix/pixalbum.php?pix_id=914
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
I'll be over at cairngorm this weekend for some xc ski racing, which on Sunday is up the hill from Glenmore to the Cas Carpark. Do I put some telekit in and hike up for a run down the ciste gulley on snow, or will I be too knackered after the racing?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Cairngorm was excellent yesterday (Sun 9th June):
- Since our last visit on Whit Bank Hol Monday, with the exception of the Ciste Gully, the snow cover is (unsurprisingly) drastically reduced. On that occasion, and with a couple of walks in The Cas, it was skinnable to the top of the Ptarmigan Tow from the bottom of the Gunbarrel. Now it's a case of a lot more walking than skinning.
- We walked/skinned up the Cas/White Lady. With a fair bit of skinnable/skiable snow still on offer on The Lady it was a lot easier than walking up with skis on packs. The snow is still four or five feet deep in places.
- The remainder of the terrain park provided a fair (if flattish) run down the Ptarmigan Bowl.
- There was a good sized patch of skiable snow between the foot of the Ptarmigan Tow and the top of the Ciste Tow.
- The Ciste Gully was fantastic - lovely granular/spring snow, full width and still complete to the boardwalk. About 1000 ft vertical available and, I'm guessing, about a half to three quarters of a mile of run. Amazing for the time of year and so good we skinned back up to do it again. Up and over via the Daylodge Run to get back to the Cas Car Park - a bit tiring after all the walking/skinning but not too bad as the peat has now dried out a lot.
Will try and get round to posting some pics tonight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
^ lot of humpin about for the marked pistes, why not a wee tootle yonder beyond? maybe a bit more patch linking, but in this weather just being up there on the high plateau proper is magic. southerly-ish slopes off the back of cairngorm and the northern corries alone would be worth the extra shlep, plenty of gnarly stuff to be had too (gullys into Loch A'on basin basically) but not at all necessary to have a nice day out with good skiing, back into ski area for a long run home down ciste gulley.
Summertime at its best! Bring a picnic
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
Amazing that Scotland is still offering 1000ft vertical in mid June!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
I put my skis, skins and poles in the car. Spot what I forgot - yes in a senior moment i forgot the boots. Still it was a fine day for the race, but i'm sure the road up to the cas car park gets longer and steeper every year. At least it seems to take me longer every year. Took me nearly 36 minutes this year. Winning time was 19 mins 47 secs, which means an average spped of >15kph uphill!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Fabulous final pic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Does anyone know what the s ow depth will be in the Ciste Gully at the moment. Also why is there still do much snow this late in the year? Does it require a certain type of winter storm coming from a certain direction to push snow where it normally wouldn't do?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
!! Looking at Winterhighland's pics from yesterday (on 
