Name the Ski resorts in Scotland?

Answer 1

The Ski resorts of Scotland are (west-east): Nevis Range, Glencoe, CairnGorm, Glenshee, The Lecht. All have websites & all but Glenshee have webcams. Skiing in Scotland is often marginal due to strong winds & recurrent thaws but it can be excellent. There is no on-piste accomodation at any ski area & all are difficult or impossible to access by public transport. Possible are Nevis Range (bus from Fort William), Cairngorm (bus from Aviemore) and Glencoe (bus from Glasgow or possibly Fort William). A quick run down on each follows. The mostly widely known area, CairnGorm is 9 miles from the small town of Aviemore, just off the A9 trunk road, 40 miles south of the city of Inverness. Skiing takes place in 2 bowls (Coire Cas & Coire na Ciste) on Cairngorm, Scotland's 4th highest mountain. There have been lifts here since 1961. A controversial Funicular railway, opened in 2001, runs up Coire Cas. Its planning lead to the demise of some useful lifts, so access to the steeper parts of the ski area in Coire na Ciste has been slightly compromised. At the top of the funicular is the UK's highest restaurant & shop (1097m) and a large gently sloping area with tows for beginners. Intermediate skiers are well catered for with a mix of blue and red runs at the top of the Ciste & all down the Cas. Further down the Ciste, the West Wall and East Wall are lift-served steep black runs. This area often has the longest & most reliable season (December-April approximately). This area is set just off the A82 Glasgow-Fort William road on the mountain of Meall a'Bhuiridh. The setting is spectacular, just south of Glencoe itself, one of the most scenic areas in Scotland. This is the oldest ski area in the country, the first lifts were built in 1956. The ski runs follow natural hollows and the area is north-facing so it holds snow well. The steepest marked run in Scotland, the Flypaper, can be found here and there are numerous easier routes but terrain for beginners is limited. There are few lifts but they access many runs & the largest vertical drop (760m, not usually fully skiable). The lift & mountain infrastructure is generally old & as of April 2009 the owners are seeking new investment. This area lies on both sides of the A93 Perth-Braemar road, at the point where it is the highest public road in Scotland (652m). It spreads over 3 valleys & 4 mountains & boasts the countries largest lift infrastructure (>20 tows). Some of these are doubled button tows to cut queues on busy days. There are also 2 chairlifts. The ski area is the most extensive in the UK. Beginner areas are easily accessible from the roadside & there are some reasonably steep runs at each extremity of the area. These easterly mountains are less rocky than those of the west so good skiing is possible with a thin layer of snow. However snow-holding is less secure, so extensive Fencing is used. There is very limited snow-making. Also situated on a high mountain pass on the east of the Grampian mountains, the Lecht is slightly closer to the city of Aberdeen than Glenshee. It sits on the A939, between Cock Bridge & Tomintoul (the highest village in the Highlands). The road is very steep & exposed, so probably gets blocked by snow more frequently than any other in the UK. The pass is high (635m) & the surrounding hills are not so the vertical drop here is only 210m. Snow-making is more extensive & the beginner areas are right beside the car parks so it is good for beginners. There is even a 'magic carpet' style lift. The restaurant is recently refurbished and the tows are uniformly stacking button lifts. There is also a chairlift. The heathery slopes allow skiing on thin snow but mean fencing is used to hold the snow. It is usually the first ski resort to open for the season (opened 29th October in 2008/9 season). Scotland's newest resort opened in 1989 on the slopes of Aonach Mor. The car park is only 7 miles from the (coastal) town of Fort William & at low level. A Gondola runs to the base of the ski area & a variety of tows fan out across the westerly face of the mountain. The beginner areas are nearby and an unusual 2-way flat chairlift accesses another blue run around the mountain, with better snowholding. There are blue runs at the top of the mountain but the middle section is steeper with red & black runs. There is a chairlift on the other side of the mountain which can provide uplift from excellent steep patrolled & unpatrolled off-piste skiing towards the end of the season. This only opens in excellent conditions as the fuel has to be flown in by helicopter. The mountain is Scotland's 7th highest & the tows go nearly to the top so it has the highest lift (1215m) of any area. The views from here over Carn Mor Dearg to the northern corries of Ben Nevis are fantastic.