Skiing and Boarding on Cairngorm
February 23, 2009 on 6:31 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
The snow arrived at the right time this year, so that the conditions were great for the start of the mid term holidays! This meant that everything was open and running really well during this period.
The staff on Cairngorm have reacted well to this and everyone has really pulled the stops out to ensure that it runs as well as possible. Many customers are unaware of the amount of unseen work that goes on to ensure that it runs smoothly.
Our hats go off to them all but in particular to the ski patrol, pisting and engineering staff who come in very early (when most of us are still in bed) to clear the road, piste the runs, open lifts etc. Below is a picture taken down the Day Lodge poma track showing a full car park!
During the half term the weather was a bit warmer and so snow was gradually lost over this period. As of today we could still just about pick our way down to the Day lodge, but some of the other runs are now broken. The Day Lodge poma, West Wall poma and Car Park T-bar now all require more snow to operate.
Despite this, the top still has plenty of snow and is good skiing and boarding, and you can still get down the White Lady and Cas.
For those people who are unaware of the Scottish ski resorts the freeze/thaw cycle is completely normal, and just a product of our weather systems and being a relatively low country on the edge of the Atlantic!
We should get some more snow soon and I fully expect to be skiing and boarding well into April (or even May) like the last 2 years.
Our ski and snowboard school is teaching kids from the local primary schools during the week over the next month, and I am sure that our Snowlimit programme will again have over 100 local kids on it each weekend. This year we have over 65 instructors, all of whom are passionate about their sports and have a desire to pass it on to others.
Inevitably however, this job is made easier if we have good weather, and our customers can have a memorable experience!
Mike Shepherd
http://www.theskischool.co.uk
In the winter I am the Director of The Ski School and The Snowboard School on Cairngorm Mountain, which employs over 65 ski and snowboard instructors each winter. In the summer I am a dinghy sailing Coach and run courses all over the north of Scotland, as well as dabbling in many other watersports.
Scotland, as good as I can remember
February 23, 2009 on 2:26 pm | In Skiing | No Comments
The snow conditions over the last month is Scotland have been as good as any I can remember. The snow has been of the light fluffy powdery variety and there has been full coverage. People have been able to ski and snowboard on runs that have been patchy or snow free the past few seasons and the general atmosphere on the Scottish Pistes has been brilliant, showing that the ski and snowboard scene in Scotland is very much alive and well. Me enjoying powder on the Head Wall of Cairngorm.
I for one, am not too surprised at the great conditions as I was lucky enough to have some great conditions last season and the season before that too. I think the difference this year is that the great conditions are a little bit earlier in the season than the last two years. Last year, it was the end of March before it got really good in Scotland and the year before that it was April that was the best month.
Right now we are seeing a bit of a mid season thaw on the lower slopes but this is usual and I am very sure that the snow will be back in full in March bringing with it some more great Scottish ski and snowboard conditions so do not put your skis and boards away yet as I think the best is still to come.I took this picture in the middle of April last year and have every intention of getting some more of that action this season.
The great snow conditions have allowed the ski competition circuit to run in Scotland for the first time in a few years and it is great to see that there is still a keen interest and high standard of ski racing in Scotland. As well as ski racing the freestyle parks in the Scottish resorts are providing great opportunities for the young ski and snowboard freestylers to learn new tricks and practice for the up and coming national champs in Laax Switzerland at the start of April.
At the same time the freestylers are in Laas the alpine racers will be putting their home practive to the test in Meribel, France at the Alpine Ski Champs where the boys will be chasing Scottish Ski heros Noel and Alain Baxter, Andy Noble and Finlay Mickel and the girls will be chasing Pam Thorburn and UK ace Chemmy Alcott. The Scottish snowsports competitors have been having a good season which bodes well for the coming Winter Olympics in Feb 2010.
Noel Baxter finished 17th in the World Championships slalom event after finally having a few injury free weeks on snow while Ben Kilner and myself have been quietly notching up top 20 and top 15 World Cup half pipe results. Ben is looking really strong in the pipe and it is only a matter of time before he breaks in to the top ten on the World Cup tour.
As well as bolstering the interest in the home grown competition scene the recent snow lower down has sparked an interest in cross country ski-ing and what better way to see the beautiful winter scenery than to ski around the local lochs and woods!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
