Patroller’s Blog - “Big Dig Part Deux”
Another challenging week for the team and machinery again, i think today is the first time i,ve had my skis on in over two weeks. Blizzard conditions hit us again on Wednesday and Thursday bringing everything to a standstill till the wind dropped. We spent all day yesterday getting the down road blown and widened and a big squad getting the track, top building and some of the uplift dug out again, i think since the initial storm we must have shifted in excess of 80,000 tons of snow. The link road will be left for the time being so we will have two way traffic on the down road. We were hoping to get the 100 groomer down to help groom a track for our Husky freinds but the weather prevented that, hope it all goes well for them. There has been a few comments from people of why we cant plough the roads all night to keep open but the simple fact is if you cant see where you are driving you cant plough the roads. I,ll see if i can get digital thermal imaging implants into the drivers heads for next season:0). Even if the roads were open most of the days would have been lost to the wind anyway. On average we expect to lose 20 odd days stormbound a season.
Today should pan out in to a good day, we have had 4 or 5 lifts open from 7.45 and hope to get them all up and running. There is fantastic cover on the whole hill with some great sport on offer, although there are some icy patches around and snow drifts in places i,ve never seen before.
Cheers
Colin
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:31 am
Sorry Colin could not resist this - what about head lights - I know, I know - just checking if you still have your sense of humour!!!
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:18 am
David
Have you no house work you should be doing or something?
Colin
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:21 pm
You must be the only Ski Resort in the world that seems to think they cannot work at night. No other place in the world I have came across has this problem. It really is down to having the right equipment and of course will power which has always been a problem in the UK. I have seen the A9 being cleared many many times before, which also suffers from drifting snow. I cannot see the A9 being closed for over a week can you? Maybe you should contact them and ask what they use to see at night? Up shot being if travelling from a far best keeping your money and use it abroad for guaranteed night shifts. Travelling to a resort for a whole week and NOT being able to use the facilities is no good. Great place for the locals though having that on your back door step.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Hi Kevin, thanks for your comments
I think you are missing the point, it is not the dark that is the problem even our machines have lights, it is driving in a white out blizzad with 60 - 70 mph winds and 15 ft drifts that the boys have a wee problem negotiating, and i think we have more extremes of weather than most other ski resorts in the world. Why not come in on an early or late shift with us and you will see that what our will power gets done. Give “Ice Road Truckers” a view, that is pretty tame to some of our conditions.
Cheers
Colin
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Hi Colin
In reply to Kevin’s comments about the A9 not being closed for a week, I seem to recall in 1982 or ‘83 it was blocked for 5 days between Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie. I think your idea about Kevin doing an early shift would reaaly open his eyes to what conditions are really like on the Hill.
Keep up the excellent work.
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I’m sure the council has plenty of tax payers money to buy the ploughing equipment they need! Hasn’t this year been the exception rather than the rule in recent times? Can we predict that there will be so much snow for skiing every year to justify Cairngorm investing in more machinery?
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:44 pm
I have been following your efforts from the now snowless midlands (the old foe…) - we are pining for the hills.
It has been an epic effort. I sit here as an erstwhile inmate of a private educational establishment near Duffus and I can confirm that the beginning of 1984 was the only time I have seen roads covered for 4 weeks without a break (not withstanding what you have now). You have a serious location with big issues!!
Hope the rest of the season goes well, keep it up!
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Sorry, forgot to mention that I had a great walk to (and around) the castle in the middle of Lochindorb!
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:02 pm
To use a popular Scottish legal expression, Kevin’s bum’s oot the windae. He says ‘….nowhere else in the world I have came [his grammar, not mine] across has this problem.’ Well I have spent more than fifty weeks total in the Alps in winter and I can assure him that they have some monumental snarl ups with heavy snow but relatively insignificant wind. And as for the A9, I once followed a snowplough in a convoy of about five cars followed by a police car, and the road behind the polis was filling in with snow so fast that he was lucky to get through. The road remained closed until the wind dropped. If you have snow plus winds over about 60 mph you will have problems whatever snow shifting machinery you have. And what other ski areas in the world have wind speeds over 170 mph? Without the wind, nae bother, but…
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Think you all are going a great job Colin, thanks. Great to see the snow back like nothing I can (personally) remember since I started skiing in 1993.
Love the videos about the dig - really makes me look forward to getting up at the weekends
Skiing in Scotland is challenging, I think most people know and appreciate that. Wow isn’t it great for a rare change to have problems of too much snow. Let’s more of us say thanks - in today’s world we often forget too often to say thanks. Great job to all the team, at all the resorts.
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:20 pm
I’m going to have to jump to your defense here. I think you’re doing a fantastic job and I think you will admit weather conditions have a little out of the ordinary? Keep up the good work and ignore the likes of Kevin.
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
colin, can i make a suggestion? to give kev an idea of what you’re up against why not dump 800tonnes of snow on his driveway and large industrial fans mimicking 80mph+ winds, then tell him not to be late for work!
just a thought.
January 24th, 2010 at 12:39 am
Colin,
Keep up the good work! Good you are standing up to all the nonsense being flung your way. This is Scotland and you cannot compare Cairngorm to anywhere else in the world in regards to skiing, because of the weather and also we are an island getting battered from the West and the East.
The chuffing moaners and Virtual Ski Resort Managers still will come skiing though!
Look forward to hopefully coming up on Friday!
Cheers,
January 24th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Hi Colin,
just want to say your doing an amazing job up there keep it up
Just want to ask about the student discount, would my university card be sufficient to get the discount or would i need other proof with me?
Thanks, Mark
January 24th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Thanks Mark
I,m sure your uni card will be fine, but phone 01479861307 just to double check before you come.
Cheers
Colin
January 24th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
top day today, only had a half-day pass out so was up early. snow was terrific all over, the few scraped & drifted patches here and there just made things interesting! great to get down ciste gulley again though that traverse out to poma is still a killer! Aonach bowl fabulous, and even managed a dodge over into Sneachda when the vis was good (as good as the aonach and without any tracks!).
First time I’ve ever had the urge to duck going under the towers on the M1! Bit busy around mid-mountain late morning but more than enough routes to lap around the hill to quieter spots or until things eased off etc.
Mayhem at the hayfield on my way back down just after 1 o’clock with the mushers and dugs - cars everywhere, a few people thought it was the queue for the hill but were glad to hear not. No sign of the law anywhere apart from 2 in a wagon just sitting in the queue-up by the shop!
Two way on the down road worked well - forget the link road until spring time.
Well done to all the staff, can’t believe it’s still only January and it’s been this good and this busy. Keep up the good work
January 24th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Hi Colin.
Just returned from a few hours on the Hill and enjoyed some of the best snow conditions I can remember since the sixties (that’s the 1960s to the youngsters)! I was half way down the White Lady before I realised it actually was the Lady. And even by 16:00h, there was still plenty of powder at the sides of many pistes. Magnificent, even though one’s style has still to catch up!
I enjoy driving in snow but one of the most terrifying experiences I ever had was travelling south about three car lengths behind a police 4WD on the A9 at Dalwhinnie. There was a blizzard blowing across the road & occasionally I couldn’t see any of the police lights… not even the blue, flashing ones. Indeed, I clearly remember being unable to see anything at all at one point - it was like a blackout, not a whiteout - and the buffeting from the wind was so severe, I thought my car had stalled. A glance at the speedo showed we were still travelling at just under 20mph but the wind & lack of visibilty were truly scary & completely disorientating. So when you talk of the conditions on the access road as being tricky, you have my heartfelt support. If you haven’t experienced it, it’s almost impossible to understand. So we mustn’t be too hard on the innocent!
Keep digging.
Cheers
Ron
January 24th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Just home from a fabulous weekend, todays conditions were amazing and cant wait to get up again!
January 24th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Hi Colin,
I was up on Saturday and despite the murky conditions it was brilliant. Been waiting to come up from Glasgow since Christmas so it was great to eventually make it up. Well done for all your efforts which were evident to see, my only complaint was the egg in my roll from the Cas bar was a bit runny. Coming up again with friends from my native Lancashire next weekend so if you can fix that, provide some cosmetic snow down in the village and a wee bit of frost you’ll have hit perfection.
You must be bored with all the comments on shifting snow, so I’d like to change the topic a bit. I spent some time as far as I could down the coire na ciste side, hell mend me I went past the ‘keep out’ signs to check the latest demise of the chairlift. I’ve been hopefully monitoring it’s possible comeback for years but it seems that it and the base station by the overflow car park are now realistically well past the point of no return. I follow the stories but might get the details wrong here, but from what I can see the owners of Cairngorm (HIE?) are a bit sceptical about the future of skiing per se, so as far as they are concerned the whole west wall is now history??
I sense from the press clippings there is an official line and a real line. So if you could stick the official story on here and e-mail me the real story I’d be obliged!!
My personal (possibly naive) view is that if those who really want cairngorm to survive in the future we all maybe need to become a bit more involved, investing a bit more time (and money) into the hill to ensure its continued existence. Granted 30 quid + petrol is an expensive day out but to keep the facility going I would gladly consider paying more if there was a clear long-term commitment for the west wall to properly open up again, even if it was a specific optional fund for particular projects. Again from what I can read the pessimistic folk in charge have for the past 15-20 yrs been been citing the demise of snowsports due to global warming, but this season and the last couple of years must surely make them start to think again??
January 24th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Have seen some photos from today - WOW, simply awesome!
I’m so stoked about getting back up in a few weeks but I suspect it’ll be heaving over the half-term, spoke to 4 people at the Gloucester slope today who are intending to head up with their families and my brother is intending to take his family over from Ullapool so if that’s any indication it’s gonna be a hell of a week!
Can’t wait though
January 24th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Had a great day today - snow was great and lift’s weren’t as bad as people
were making out - there’ll always be moaners - FYI lots of snow = lots of skiers. Some of the snow was unbelieveable and as good as Alps and North America and a lot of lovely untouched white stuff.
Well done to the team for getting open. A lot of snow up there!
January 25th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Swalshy’s comments re the chairlifts in Coire na Ciste add positively & sensibly to what has already been suggested by several of us earlier this season. Am I alone in thinking that there may never be a better time to seek financial support from a wide range of supporters (perhaps by way of a limited share/debenture isue?), including local traders & government agencies?
If it doesn’t already exist, the first step would be to commission an up-to-date Feasibility study, but one restricted to the proposed Ciste side. It would look at, amongst other things, what added value a further development here might bring to both Cairngorm & the surrounding area. This is the kind of study that Scottish Enterprise/HIE are usually keen to support & have, in the past, been willing to fund. Maybe it exists already.
It’s worth noting that Goverment funding for some projects which are not (and may never be) self-supporting has been possible in recent years, so long as there is a strong, perceived & desirable benefit to the community or country (eg, Science Centres).
What is the current situation on these issues Colin? Where can we find relevant documents to study concerning the current, formal plan for the Hill at both local & national levels? You’ve whetted our appetites. Thanks!
Cheers
Ron
January 25th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Hi,
I’m due to ski on Cairngorm at the end of Feb with a few friends and the conditions look spot on, better than a lot of the resorts in the alps, fingers crossed the conditions will hold out until then. I can’t even start to imagine the type of conditions you have had to endure so far this season, you and your staff seem to be doing a great job regardless of some of the comments over recent weeks!
I have a question for you. I’ve spent several years skiing different resorts throughout Europe, and when you do any research on these resorts i.e. the number of runs, total length of runs if 100% open, mountain facilities and so on and you generally get the same answer regardless of where you look. But I’ve noticed that on your website you say that you currently have 35 runs open and 10 lifts operating but other sites such as snow-forecast & j2ski say that you only have 28 runs in total and one says you have 17 lifts. Could you clarify please?
One of the reasons I’ve never thought of skiing in Scotland before is because of the bad reports and comments you sometimes get on the various forums out there and from comments made by friends. I cant wait to get up to your place and ski, but I think more people would come up and ski with you, if the resort started to blow its own trumpet a bit more. If you do have 35 runs or more then let people know, boast about the facilities on the mountain, can you boast about the average number of days skiing, average number of days with clear skies, acres of terrain, average yearly snow fall - I could go on. These are the things people take into account when deciding where to ski and because you don’t blow your own trumpet your losing trade that are going to crap and lesser resorts throughout Europe.
I’d rather give you guys my money and I reckon more would if they could get a better understanding of your resort!
January 25th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
There has been a lot of fancifull talk on the back of the recent weather, but surely redevelopment of the Ciste access has to be a far better option ,it would open another point of entry,is relatively sheltered and unobtrusive, reducing queing and removing/reducing the need for shuttles.A Glenmore gondola would I fear be a very restrictive bottle neck.
As for the road, how about trying to get it a roof of some sort,even if only the more vulnerable/difficult sections, might be cheaper than a gondola!
January 25th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Have to agree with comments above re reopening the Ciste chairs. IMHO they would (re)open more of the best areas on the mountain and remove the reliance on an inevitably unreliable surface lift. I suspect now, with the season as it’s going and the numbers on the mountain, is a good time to consider this option. Additionally on days when the Cas car park is unreachable but the Ciste car park has been reached at least it would allow the Ciste to open and revenue to be taken, as was the case, I believe, in 2001. I also feel that the greater availability of this side of the mountain would potentially attract more skiers and boarders to the mountain, again upping potential revenue. In terms of age there are older lifts running at both Glencoe and Glenshee so I don’t think age precludes their recommissioning. I appreciate there are issues and appreciate that one lift is in better nick than the other but now could be the time to start making the case in a constructive way to HIE for their reopening.
Anyway, just my thoughts and a bit of an aside from my constantly saying “WOW” “awesome” and “cant wait to get back up” … which I cant lol
January 25th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Cheers again folks for all the comments, having a couple of days off again and i was looking up the hill from the village this afternoon and it is truly looking majestic at the moment. Some rellies were up today and told me it was one of the best days they have had. Just looked at MWIS and hey ho blizzards and whiteouts maybe on the way, bring it on, want to get over the 100,000 tons of snow shifted target.
Re blowing our own trumpet, i think we are trying to get the message out via the blog and getting people to use our own site to get the most up to date info, dont always get it right but we are improving, the only time we havent had an update out before 6.45 is when the road is blocked. I think the You Tube footage views after the storms is well passed 300,000. Had lots of media coverage as well, even the Newspapers down under have been mentioning it. I think the numbers we are doing during the week at the moment shows people are coming because they have heard of the awesome snow cover.
Now the big question - Redevelopment, i,ll be speaking to Tania tomorrow to discuss the big picture and where we are and will post again.
Speaking purely personaly i think the Ciste and West Wall chairs should be replaced, with the time and cost of trying to reinstate antiquated chairlifts that would shutdown between 25 -30 MPH it would be better to replace the whole system with a state of the art hi speed quad detachable chair running right up to the Ptarmigan Restaurant with various get ons and offs on route. Again this is me day dreaming and not CML or HIE policy or intention , anyone want to start a lottery syndicate or poker competition?
Cheers Colin
January 25th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
For a new chair lift like the one you are talking about what is the cost ?
are there options out there to get reasonable second hand chair lifts from other resorts ?
January 25th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Not sure Rob, few million anyway i,m going to speak to some of the reps i met at the Nassa conference, hoping to go to the trade show in April as well to get more info. Dont know the costs of second hand stuff and the transport costs, why not aim big anyway:o)
Colin
January 25th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Here’s hoping you get your wish list Colin! Its certainly the wish list of a lot of peole gauging by the constant mention of it on the blog! Must admit it would be a huge benefit to the mountain and its users.
Just wanted to say what a fantastic 4 days was had by Daughter No1 and I last week, Monday / Tuesday followed by the weekend family outing where we more or less spent the entire time skiing every inch of the White Lady, even in the poor viz on Sat, which I usually throw a complete tantrum at! Not many people using it either so it was almost like a family exclusive piste. Can you arrange same for next weekend please…???? ;0)
January 26th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Hi Colin, Days off!! your turn to get Henri out. All going to plan will back across for a few days beginning of Feb, so you hopefully the wind will have blown out, you have the road open, the pistes pristine and fresh powder, for once it maybe more than a dream.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Thinking about the cost of new lifts. Perhaps you better make it a Euro Millions syndicate….
January 26th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Investment in the ski area has to be a must. I am an expert skier and was up at Cairngorm last feb and although I thoroughly enjoyed myself, the dissapointment in seeing all that terrain in the ciste going to waste was heartbreaking. I know finding the money is an issue but I believe both snowmaking and new lifts would bring back peoples confidence in scottish skiing.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Like everyone else having a fantastic season. First skied on 28th November and had paid for my season ticket by end of Xmas break. Everything else a bonus and what a bonus. Have been a season ticket holder since 1980 and only once haven’t had value for money. Sure there are bad days but if you turn up you get what you deserve.
Saturday was unbelievable despite the poor visibility. Snow on White Lady at the bottom was so creamy. Terrain unrecognisable - only the tops of elephant fence showing, Chicken Gully - no gully, Burnside - no burn and not even a bridge. Not even too busy and queues manageable.
Only quibble re M1 poma. Colin, is there a technical problem? Start up is savage just now. Take off is literally that. Don’t know if it is because of the snow levels, the clutch, the cable speed or the dampeners but it is picking people up and carrying them for the first few metres. As a result, many people are falling off - and not just punters who don’t know what they are doing. They then rejoin the queue slowing things down. I also think there is potential for people to be injured at the moment. I certainly have more bruises from going up the tow than from coming down any of the runs. Feedback please!
January 26th, 2010 at 10:49 am
I think all the comments about the Ciste are pretty much spot on; under utilised, fantastic area for better skiers, improved access to the mountain on busier days etc, etc. Took my 3 eldest kids all the way down No,s 1 and 2 Gullies yesterday and then just kept going, down and down! Through the trees and on towards Glenmore; awesome and unforgettable. Best Burn’s Day ever. Possibly a once in a lifetime experience? Will try to post a few pics on the Flikr site if i can figure it out.
January 26th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
I also agree with all the comments about the Ciste. It would reduce congestion on rest of the hill, beginners and intermediates would benefit. We would have the choice of car park, could just park in lower car park, can ski all the way down without only being able to do it at weekends when the shuttle bus is on. You could have a wee snack shop at bottom, which would also relieve congestion in top bars and restaurants. I think it’s a great idea, lets hope you get the bumper season you deserve or someone comes up on the lottery who will give you all their winnings (or at least enough)
January 26th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Re Ciste chair - don’t forget the idea of using it for mountain bikers…maybe a good return there!
January 26th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Ronnie, yes the M1 was a bit brutal, i think that the volume of snow now there is causing problems and we will get it dug out lower.
Now back to the redevelopment question. The Ciste and West Wall chairs will not run this season.Fact
In my opinion it is not just case of buying a few new bits to get them back operational. With the work involved in meeting the new cable ways directive we are as well going for gold with a whole new system. why spend the time effort and money to restoring a rusting unreliable piece of kit that would be off more often than not due to wind. Again my personal opinion.
The conditions over Christmas and New Year have been exceptional – the best we have had in 30 years and we hope they continue to give us the best season in many years but we have also been closed for 10 days with still the overhead and staff costs .
However 4 weeks do not make a ski season and whilst we have had two reasonable seasons with over 50,000 skier visits, we are still recovering from our worst season ever 4 seasons ago – with less than 30,000 skier visits. It takes a few really good winters to build up capital investment budgets and so prioritising is still name of the game. Lift investment was possible throughout the 70’s when CML was attracting in excess of 160,000 skier visits every season on an annual basis. We certainly hope that some of that confidence is returning and CairnGorm can get somewhere near those numbers this winter.
I can assure you that we will be looking at the experiences of this winter season and reviewing the priorities again for capital investment budgets for the next year for lifts, tows and road clearing equipment.
Decisions were made in the past before Ian and myself were in these positions and we are where we are and it is time to move on. I can assure you that we are 100% commited to skiing and if the seasons return, to reinvestment in the infrastructure. It is time for more people to get behind CML and encourage people to come and make this a record breaking skier days seaon. Last year we closed when there was still decent snow because of lack of demand. And why stop with the Ciste side - M1 T-Bar anyone? :0)
Cheers
Colin
January 26th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Hi Colin,
Though I’ve only managed up one one occasion so far this year (30th of Dec) I had a fantastic (half) day, despite the police trying to turn us away before we even reached the snow gates and top of the hill only opening at around 2.30pm! I had one run down the white lady that I will never forget, the snow was perfect!
I 100% back the enthusiasm for the investment in the Ciste side of the mountain, it would alleviate alot of the weekend bottle necks by taking more skiers away from the M1 / Cass area. I look forward to seeing what ideas you can push forward, however modest due to budget constraints etc.
In relation to the ‘blowing your own trumpet’ comments above I totally agree. The cairngorm website, which I, and I’m sure many others, use as their main information source is worse now (I would say) than it was 5 years ago. You provide updates which is great, but the website is a mess, hard to find things, links that don’t work (the piste map for example is not viewable on a large scale), and the webcams seem of a far inferior standard to the other Scottish resorts, they seem to be pointing at the most obscure places and that’s when they are working ! I realise this is not your area of expertise but at a time when all the other Scottish centres have improved their websites , webcams etc CML seem to have gone backwards.
Loving the blogs, if only they were accessible to more people! (although you might then have to dedicate every minute of your day replying)
January 26th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Hi Robbie,
Thanks for the comments will pass on to the web folks, took the liberty of moderating your link, if you send me a email with your tel no. i will give you a call and explain or if you are up the hill pop in for the crack.
Cheers
Colin
January 26th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
nice one Colin - I’m all for development, but sorting the M1 launcher is also a priority for me! I’m a lean mean eating & drinking machine north of 17 stones so it particularly loves sending me on my way up the track in style!!
Back to development, great to hear some explicit desire and “wishlists” for the ski operation future, Guess we knew it was always there from you and others but good to hear it directly!
One thing I find frustrating when the business model is discussed is the focus on visitor numbers as the basis for budgetiing and business planning. Surely it has to be viewed with more granularity towards specific revenue generators - eg an old dear in august is a visitor number, and so am I. Remembering my 17 stones, I’m gonna spend more than said old dear for any one visit during the ski season.
Add to that the repeat spend from me then you’ve got a significantly different revenue generator. Not that I’m against old dears getting a spin on the train, I just dont think that capital investment should be decided JUST based on bums on seats without considering the actual revenue generated by those respective bums.
Therefore quotes of “100,000 visitors last year with only 20,000 of those skiing” (totally made up numbers by me) are bogus when it comes to figuring a budget, particularly for any potential capital spend. Surely it has to be based on “3 million quid revenue last year with 2 million brought in by skiing ops”(again made-up numbers). I’ll go one step further and let the various local commerce and government dudes know that I could far more easily live elsewhere for my job - it would cost me less and make work more practical, but I choose to live in the Strath so I can ski in winter - fair enough the wider outdoors of the area is a big part of the appeal but the clincher is skiing for me! How many folk choose to holiday, timeshare, live, 2nd home here because of the same?!
The council should be giving you guys a few quid back off your big dig bill at least on that basis! But then dont get me started on local government/big business supporting skiing - their businesses and indeed the entire tourist industry for the area is majorly and historically linked to(some might say based on) skiing, yet your world class local wintersports atheletes struggle to compete where they belong because of finances! This is a little unfair to many of the smaller businesses who do provide terrific support but there are a few who could be doing a lot more and few local goverment and business orgs etc who could and should do a lot more to help sustain and encourage the very activity that has made the place such a success. Take that further to central goverment and they should be doing more for the wider industry - all 5 centres.
Back to the budget - mine is a simplistic view of things I grant you (eg overhead more for skiing than non-skiing ops, the need to hedge/express the budget to allow for a potential bad weather season etc.), and also Im fully sure that you guys do indeed look at it in sufficient detail to quantify the skiing revenue, but it’s never really reported that way, AND the beaks at HIE and wherever else never really refer to it in that way. This season is a real opportunity to clarify the contribution (albeit a little unpredictable at times) of skiing to the business
Let’s hope things continue as they have been this year, and us punters outlast the snow - a few inventive promotions late in the season will probably help to keep folk coming up. And if I win the euro-millions, my first couple have your name on them! Sorry for rambling a bit, my tea is delayed for some reason tonight - P44.5
January 26th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Cheers Barry
Know what you mean, on the lean side of 17 stone mesel and i lost a couple of bars on Sunday quite embarrasing when you are trying to look cool! I,m on tea duty tonight so it better be perfect for the better half after a shift in the hospital. Lot of food for thought in your post and you are exactly right that skiing has put the area and a lot of businesses firmly on the map and has a large bearing on why people come to live and work here. If it was,nt for the skiing here i would be down under or in Canada somewhere. Climate change or Global warming may or may not be real (depending which documentaries you watch) but i feel it is just cycles and we are re entering a cold cycle. There is money out there and if we can show a return on a business plan with chairs that attract summer visitors to an alternate mountain experience - who knows!
I,ll pass on your comments to the Team, though i think everyone reads the Blog anyway even HIE
Cheers
Colin
January 26th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Hi Col - it is very reassuring to hear your enthusiasm for operations in the Coire na Ciste side of the hill. Surprised to hear your comments about having to meet the cableways directive for the current Ciste Chairs however, when the directive is not in any way retrospective so does not apply to them?
Also - John MacBean (when Chief Engineer for CML) always told us that the Ciste Chairs were capable of operation in winds of up to 38mph from any direction (incl. across the line). It would be interesting to hear what sort of wind speeds the WWP is capable of operating in?
Cheers!
Jamie
January 26th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Hi Jamie,
I,ve spent all summer working with consultants on saftey systems and the Cable Ways Directive, and believe me if you start messing about upgrading and replacing bits with new kit the rules certainly do apply. And then you have the ageing plant and safety critical component rules - it is an absolute mine field.
Re wind speeds, when you get a cross wind nearing 30 the chairs with a full line would swing awfully close to the towers. It would take a brave man(not me) to keep them running in that situation. When you get a cross wind of 40 on the WWP it is getting pretty marginal, the down bars start hitting the towers and bending the barrels.
Hope you guys had a good day on Sunday.
Cheers
Colin
January 26th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Hi Colin,
I managed up on the hill again on Friday 8th, best blue-bird day ever, even the RAF were enjoying the conditions, a well executed barrel roll up the hill for all the punters to watch - nice touch!
Throughout the winter I am a boarder and in summer and avid mountain biker (and climber, hiker etc). Mountain biking is huge, and growing fast. Look at recent developments at Nevis, new red route opened last year, rumored development at the Coe, Laggan, new quality venues are sprouting up everywhere, north and south of the border. Like skiers, mountain bikers tend to be, as Barry put it, good “revenue generators”. Like skiers they often fork out for trips to the alps to use the lifts in summer. I think if more quality venues are added in Scotland you would find the already considerable numbers of visitors from the shires would boom. Folks would come to the Highlands to tour the big sites and, any with uplift are right at the top of the list. The Gorm would be a great mtb venue and there are some of the very best trail builders available on your doorstep. Gets my vote.
Off to le dark (blanc) side next week
Cheers,
Paul.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Aye Paul saw the Top Gun as well, we were thinking if they could go sonic up the Gully it would do our avalanche control as well. quite right re mountain biking if we dont do something soon we will miss the boat.
Cheers
Col
January 26th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Can I write your quote above in capitals so it stands out Col ?
LAST YEAR WE CLOSED WHEN THERE WAS STILL DECENT SNOW BECAUSE OF LACK OF DEMAND.
Hopefully there’s enough snow around to make this potentially a very long season, so everybody reading this great blog now, please keep skiing.
Still remember 2nd June 1979, blistering sun, spring snow and the Cas tow running ! That’s probably not ever going to happen again, but lifts operating this May would be great
January 26th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
I think there’s a lot of potential for mountain biking, and not just from tourists. I live in the village and go out most evenings when the paths aren’t covered in snow
I’m sure you’d get loads of trade from folk in the Strath and Inverness on a reasonably regular basis. Add in a few competitions to raise publicity and you’re laughing.
Biggest concerns are to do it in such a way as to limit damage to the mountain and to cater for abilities from speed demon to casual cyclists.
You might even make money hiring a few bikes, or team up with a local bike shop. Glenmore Lodge run mountain biking courses, bet they’d love such a facility next door and send business your way.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Hey Colin,
With regards to a comment I made in your previous blog about my spend in the valley since Boxing day, I reckon I am now somewhere in the region of £370+ with probably a considerable amount more before the end of the season.
Planning to come up again on the weekend of the 4th feb with 5 friends and I estimate the valley and mountain will be better of to the tune of £750ish.
Would I come if it were not for the skiing on the Gorm? possibly not - unless the valley (Aviemore!!) was to try much much harder.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Colin,
Apologies, the change in topic from shifting snow was obviously to another fairly contentious subject matter. I agree with you, whilst I’m no expert on alpine chairlifts It seems glaringly obvious to me that what’s left of the current chairlift and associated facilities are now only fit for the skip - any investment in what’s left would surely be throwing good money after bad.
At the other end of the scale I think any kind of gondola from Glenmore would be way too optimistic, as an architect this is kind of my subject matter so I don’t think this would stand a chance owing to the visual impact on the hill and would be eye-wateringly expensive. So to my mind I’m still convinced that the best hope for the ciste side is a new ‘like for like’ replacement of what’s there, and by the ’skiing community’ taking the bull by the horns in at least making a start into some kind of financial fund / contribution.
Now I’m having a dream here and plucking totally random numbers out of the air, but from memory the funicular was nearly 20m? - so say, just for talking’s sake, that a new chairlift would be say 3m. I reckon that if you get 60,000 skiier days a year and half of those are soft sentimental types like me who can’t afford to go abroad because they go to Cairngorm 4-5 times in the season. So say if half of the people that came in the year contributed a tenner a time (two bacon rolls and two coffees in the cas bar) you would have 3m divided by 30,000 divided by 10 = 10 years away from a new chairlift. Seems a long time away, but Y2K was only yesterday eh?
My maths is wildly optimistic and the figures are massive guesses, but I’m just trying to make a point that if a specific fund was set up it might yield quite surprising results. I’ve been involved in various grant-aided developments in the past and the best way of getting grant money to my mind is to start by demonstrating a commitment by showing some hard-earned savings as a starting point. And just say that in the event every season from now to 2020 was a washout that fund would go a long way to buying a whole load of snow cannons!!
Helen’s point is interesting, and a bit dissapointing. I must admit I’m one of those punters that come the end of March think a trip up north from Glasgow is a waste of time. But equally well with a young family and a million and one weekend commitments it can sometimes be difficult getting away from the central belt of a weekend even in high season to a) have a great weekend and therefore b) support you guys financially. That’s why I remain convinced that an independant fund is the way to go where folk could ast least send a few quid now and then. Now working in the recession-ravaged construction industry means dosh is a bit tight at the mo but I’ll bet lots of folk in my position would be willing to part with some cash if at least a feasibility study were commissioned and it became a ‘real’ project.
All that said I’ll be up on saturday again, so I’ll stick a tenner in an envelope just let me know where to drop it in. Don’t tell the missus though I’ve spent all year trying to negotiate a new pair of K2 crossfires without success!!
Final point for now Is I agree this and the whole of cairngorm should be a facility available to the MTB community in the summer, I appreciate there are environmental issues but realistically the zig-zags and gumbarrel don’t look that bonnie to me when I’ve been up the hill in July. I personally think some trails on the wouldn’t be that intrusive and would also potentially bring a huge ammount of money into the equation.
I’m convinced it’s high time to stop waiting for HIE to do something and start saving our pennies.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Season ticket holders must be counted towards demand for early/late season uplift. It certainly seems to have been the case in the past that they have not been and leaving aside the fact we have already paid for uplift, season ticket holders also spent money in catering and retail. Money that isn’t there if the lifts aren’t turning.
Of course outwith the peak season, season ticket holders will make up a higher % of total skiers, they are the keen ones afterall, which is why they bought a season ticket in the first place.
Providing uplift keeps the closed system at bay and being able to go out and play in the snow must be a clincher for at least a reasonable number of people when it comes to deciding whether to go up the train or not?
January 26th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Colin. I realise you must be almost overwhelmed by the many positive responses supporting further development at the Ciste. I particularly like your suggestion of a brand new, multi-chair facility. However, the questions posed in my submission on January 25th, 2010 at 9:50 am appear to have gone unanswered. Some guidance from you would help make my (and, I’m sure, others) enquiries easier.
With so much enthusiasm recently generated for skiing and mountain biking, we should be able to move forward. But our debate has to be based as much on fact and reality as is possible, otherwise it will fail at the first serious hurdle.
You may be able to raise more support for this cause than you previously thought possible!
Cheers
Ron
January 26th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Re 2nd June 1979 and the Cas tow running, I’m was at University in Edinburgh over 1989 through 1993 and I’m sure I remember a newspaper story (Scotsman maybe?) showing Skiing at Cairngorm in June. Vaguely remember a photo with a girl in a bikini on skis. Can anyone confirm or am I imagining it?!
January 26th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Can’t say I remember ‘79, Helen (I’ve only been coming to the Gorm since ‘83) but I’ve had a few late April/May sessions in that time that make me think that I’ll be ripping it down the Lady in July!
Colin,
Are you going to “draw” an alternative piste map for all the new runs that have popped up over the last few weeks? How about a Slopestyle course down the White lady?
January 27th, 2010 at 5:56 am
Apologies Ron, on days off, i will get Tania to look at your post and give you an answer. Lot of food for thought coming in and i am sure there are many people in the right places reading these posts, any way better go, new company tansport arriving today 800cc 4 stroke skidoo, engine blew up in our old one.
Later
Col
January 27th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Ron,
Hav a look on Audit Scotland’s website, type Cairngorm into the search bar and there’s some interesting reading there.
January 27th, 2010 at 10:11 am
I can’t remember the year (so long ago) but I have skied full length White Lady (chair & T-bar running) mid summers day so mid June. I recall Aerial slope and free style competition in place with vey loud disco - one of the most memorable days on the hill - would of been shorts and t shirts but moguls were icy lumps till about 10, followed by ½ hour of decent snow then slushy mounds with puddles in the troughs. To help date I think Arthur was one of the leading competitors at the time (I think).
In more recent times, the May Day family celebration 2008 season was really good, great family day out, A good mix of “summer” day trippers and skiers with families.
Finally a point about blowing your own trumpet - I am fortunate and travel a fair bit. I find very very few people realise that you can ski Scotland and think that I am BullSh*tting when I say I have skied late November and May day in the same season. Yes we have made the news but very few people pick it up. Currently in Dublin and selling Cairngorm hard, and talked some overseas colleagues (skiers) to make trip in the winter instead of the summer, forewarned to have alternatives planned - There number one alternative is trying out the local hospitality and a wee dram!! Maybe Scottish tourism should be more active in selling the area as a complete package.
Have fun with the new transport, and don’t be the first to break it!!!
January 27th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Hi Colin
Some thoughts:
Come the spring/summer if we still have good cover, I’d hope that you would keep the mountain open for skiing as long as possible. Even if it was just the train and a couple of lifts with mimimum staffing. As Alan says don’t forget us Season ticket holders. I’ve noticed late season we make up a large % of the skiers on the hill. Plus I would have thought not having to move to the closed system would be good for the non skiing tourist as they could get out into the snow.
Ciste Side:
New lifts Ciste side are unlikely to happen fast, especially if planning permission is involved. Therefore if at all possible I would have thought reinstatement of the West Wall chair for next season would be beneficial for servicing the Ciste Gulley. The WW poma track is often broken when the gulley is complete at the beginning and end of the season. Plus the traverse out to the WWP ends up rutting up the WW run itself and making it basically unskiable for the bottom half of its length.
I hope the forecast weather doesn’t cause you too many road problems over the next few days - though it should provide another top up for the runs. The changed wind direction may move the snow around to some new areas and maybe cause fewer problems on the road.
Cheers
January 27th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Well we managed a day on the mountain last Saturday, a bit icy but fun all the same!
Driving up the road it was obvious there had been real work done to get everything opened. So hats off to all ‘gorm staff and helpers for getting through massive drifts and opening for the weekend that should answer some of the critics!
I can understand the frustration some people feel at not getting out for weeks but it’s hardly constructive to bash the staff in a public blog. Be constructive if you have something to say!
On another note: I managed to lose my phone on Saturday and a kind gentleman named Rob called my girlfriend to let her know he had found it on the slopes and would leave it with the ranger base.
I was about to leave and went to see if it whad been handed in but i was too early. The member of staff (sorry never got your name) took my details and told me she would call if it appeared. The phone was handed in shortly after that and the woman in question stood outside looking for me to give it back eventually spotting me in the car park! I can’t thank her and Rob enough for being so decent and helpful.
Touch wood I’ll see you over the weekend!
January 27th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I loved the snow when I was up last week and yes a ciste side chair would be fantastic but I would rather not have too worry if the mountain can stay open cause of massing debts. what i would like is what we have to work better. For instance Ronnie C’s comments about the M1 are very true as a feather weight at just over 9 stone I might have it a bit easier than some more weighty users but it still gives me a real jar and really puts me off coming back up it and therefore not to go to the top station for a bacon roll. last season it was better but still not great.
One last positive thing the snow is amazing found my self a bit disorientated at one stage when I was up and then realised I was standing where the burn at burnside normally is, WOW. And never in my lifetime has there been this much snow plus the bottom of white lady was fantastic, did make the mistake of pioneering down the M2 fell over a snow drift and have been limping since.
Overall keep up the great work and keep Scottish skiing alive.
January 27th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
On the subject of summer skiing I too can remember skiing in June back in the old days. As I recall it was the bowl and the top part of the Ciste gully that was available but might be wrong about the latter. I recall it was pretty awesome to be on snow at that time of year and imagine the positive publicity if this was repeated this season!
As for the chair issue I agree with Dave that it would be a great at the very least to see the WW chair open next season and that it’s opening would deal with many of the issues with broken uptracks and traverses that the current situation presents. Whilst I’d love to see a replacement it would take a long time to get the funds and planning issues sorted out so I do feel that some form of even limited reinstatement would help in the short to medium term.
This season we need good skier numbers and consequently money for investment so lets encourage people to get up and ski. Members of my family who haven’t skied for years will be up in February as well as other colleagues so hopefully I’m doing my bit in encouraging them.
We also need a run of good seasons to bring in the money, as Colin says, and I’m hopeful that we may get this, there seems to be a bit of a reconsideration of the worst predictions of the last few years from some climate scientists, for example take a look at this article (Alpine biased though it is) for some food for thought:
http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0978-europe-to-experience-decades-of-artic-winters/
Not sure whether linking to The Daily Mail is a positive thing, lol, but the rest of the links make intereting reading so here’s hoping they’re right!
January 27th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Dave, re the West Wall Chair, just a few of my thoughts, i guess it would need firmly costed to see how much to get it going safely again, how much money we make this season, coming up with a business model for reinstating it, Once we have a cost we would need to weigh up the benefit of doing it or using the money for new kit. Then it would need to go to various boards and such like. On the other hand i dont think planning permission for new stuff would be a major problem as it would be replacing kit that is allready there, also that side of the mountain is not as close to the SSSI sites on the other side. All food for thought and it will be down to decisions made by people higher up the food chain than me. But the debate is great and i think optimism in Scottish Skiing is miles ahead of where we were a few years ago. My glass is always half full. By the way by the look of the forecasts i hope the next blog topic is not the Big Dig Part Three.
Cheers Colin
January 27th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Hi, driving down from the mountain yesterday we passed a car withits hazards on, about 2 Mins later an ambulance whizzed passed lights flashing and sirens blaring shortly followed by a police car. Anybody know what happened? I can’t find anything in the news! Cheers, Stu.
January 27th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Colin, just recently discovered this blog and find it most interesting! Slight change of subject going back to snowmaking, which I am sure is the furthest thing from your mind at the moment. I was interested to read in the Strathy last week a statement which said of your new cannon “When the machine is finally used, it will be the first ever time in the history of the resort that artifical snow has been created since the first tows were introduced in the early 1960s.” This is not the case as I sure you will know. Although you will be to young to remember it, is there anyone else who can recall the snowmaking pipeline at the side of the Car Park tow in the late 60s early 70s. I know there are still guys working on the hill who will be more knowledgable about it than me however as I recall the snowmaking plant, along with the Sheiling tow, was purchased second hand from the short lived Ski Centre at Mar Lodge. The plant which was a huge pump and compressor was housed just below the Sheiling tow in a smart little Log cabin. I am certain the concrete base for the cabin should still be there today and after the plant was decommissioned the cabin was relocated to the bottom of the Aonach Poma, where it still is. I only ever saw it operation once and snow it was producing was very wet heavy snow. I know technology has moved on greatly with snowmaking so hopfully the new cannon is more succesful (thats if it ever needs to be used), hope to see you soon, doug
January 27th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Simon. Many thanks for directing me to Audit Scotland’s website. I’ve just spent a couple of hours studying its reports on Cairngorm Mountain Limited (”CML”) & the funicular. As I’m sure you knew, it is essential reading for anyone who has an in-depth concern for and interest in the future of CML & skiing & other sports in the Cairngorms. For those who can be bothered - and I hope that’s many - I strongly urge you to go to this site: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/utilities/search_report.php?id=1143 and read Review of cairngorm funicular railway (PDF is probably easiest). You can also listen to a useful Podcast. This material was published in October 2009. There is reference to a further report that was to be considered by the HIE Board in December 2009 but I haven’t seen that yet. If it is available now, perhaps someone in HIE could advise us please?
Sorry Colin to be so serious on your blog but I’m away from Speyside at the moment for a few days & my usual enthusiastic comments on the Hill & conditions will have to wait till I return!
Thanks again to Simon Walsh for helping to move our understanding of the complex issues involved in making the Cairngorms & CML a sustainable success.
Ron
January 28th, 2010 at 9:51 am
I agree with Barry. Back to the subject of having to close early due to lack of demand. I ski-ed on the last day last year, to be quite honest didn’t have any intention to ski, as knew there wasn’t much snow, only came up with my son to buy ex-hire equipment. We decided to go up for a last play about and we had a fantastic time. Even though the snow was limited, we had great fun, my son played non stop on the \bumbs\ at the top and we just generally mucked about - something I wouldn’t normally do, because I just want to ski. We watched the snowboarders doing their thing and it was really amazing to watch. I also realised the conditions were perfect for anyone wanting to take kids up to learn to ski or infact for anyone to learn to ski - the weather was glorious, and in fact I was skiing in my T-shirt. If the season had lasted longer, I would have been keen to learn to snowboard, I wouldn’t do that while the snow’s good! If you could find a way of marketing all that, I’m sure you would get the demand. We left the hill that day having had one of the best days, and both of us couldn’t wait until the next season started up again.
On a completely different note, I finally figured out how to get into the photos and love the photo of \bearded Millie\. Where does she hang out, is she often up the hill, I would love to see her?
Here’s hoping for a long extended season this year, will go and look out my shorts!
January 28th, 2010 at 10:19 am
the audit Scotland report has some questionable (at best) conclusions based on an apparent lack of understanding of the wider business and the ACTUAL customer requirements. (See my rant above re visitor numbers versus revenue!). It’s certainly one of the tools to use when laying out ongoing strategy but I would be concerned if it’s used as the only or main strategy-setting tool.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Now for something completely different with regard the Sheiling Tow. It’s noticeable that novice boarders really struggle with it and it does seem generally that boarders find pomas/buttons trickier.
While it has buttons as theoretically easier I can recall certainly finding it more difficult to ride learning to ski than the T-bars.
Esp for boarders might it actually be easier to ride if it was returned to a T-bar? Even going up singly the otherside of the bar provides something easier to hold and balance on. Are the White Lady T-bars lying around?
Alan
January 28th, 2010 at 11:53 am
A few seasons back, there was a thread about charging for entry to the car-park. Considering all the back-breaking work you’ve had to do to keep access open. I would happily contribute a few pounds for parking. It would also cover the people who go up and don’t ski. Would a pay and display machine be possible? Even an honesty box in the front entrance may help!
January 28th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
doug - I think you misinterpreted Colin’s statement. He said the new cannon was the first snowmaking since the early tows went in - ie, there was snowmaking when the early tows went in.
Don’t know where you heard your information about the Shieling Tow and the snowmaking equipment coming to CairnGorm from Mar Lodge, but it is not correct. Mar Lodge operated for 2 winters, opening in winter 1963/4 and closing in 1965, with the tows moved off-site a few years later (1967ish?). The Shieling Tow (a Junior GMD Mueller T-Bar) was installed in December 1963 - at the same time as Mar Lodge opened, so it is impossible for this lift to have come from there. Both the Mar Lodge lifts actually went to Glenshee, where they became the Trainer Tow (removed circa 2003) and the Cairnwell T-Bar (still in regular operation to this day).
I have heard before what you said about the early CairnGorm snowmaking came from Mar Lodge, but the descriptions I have heard of the CairnGorm kit (I wasn’t alive to see it) does not at all match up with the reality of what was on the ground at Mar Lodge. For one thing, the Mar Lodge kit had machine-gun-style guns sat on tripods, and from what I can gather the CairnGorm kit was just an assortment of hoses and valves. I have still never managed to find out what actually happened to the Mar Lodge snowmaking equipment (should know by this summer), but don’t think it went to CairnGorm. Perhaps Colin could confirm?
But I digress…
January 28th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Had a quick scan through the Audit report, very intersting reading - the bits that I found most intersting was around the conditions of the EU financing
-the funicular must operate for a period of 25 years from commencement with no change of purpose allowed
- visitors must be prevented from accessing the mountain from the top station outside of the main skiing season to protect the fragile summit area.
- The EU set a target that CML should employ 105 people on a fulltime
equivalent (FTE) basis.
It also mentioned the creation of a new business case - looking forward to seeing that.
January 28th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
For those interested in the ‘closed access system’ on Cairngorm, I believe there’s a Ward Forum presentation on that subject on 10th Feb from Scottish Natural Heritage, Cairngorms National Park Authority and Highland Council (why no CML?) at MAHR I think - should be advertised in the Strathy. If both sides (extremes) of the argument attend it could be lively, with blood on the carpet!
January 28th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Jeez I can rember the snowmaking kit - I think it is was positioned to the right of the trainer tow (lookimg up) and was intended to fill in the snow to complete the run to burnisde - the wind used to scour and break the run. I suppose that was late 60’s early 70’s in the daywhen Grantown school ran the weekend ski buses
January 28th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Susan
Millie belongs to Heather Maurning who used to work in the Ranger service, Heather now works at Glenmore Lodge so we do not see much of her, poor Coire misses his girlfriend.
Sophie, i think there is a plan to introduce pay and display when the weather allows.
Alan
Aye it was always a t-bar, dont know really why it was changed, but i will speak to the boys and get their ideas and get back to you.
Cheers
Colin
January 28th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
At the ward forum on the closed system at the funicular, the so-called environmentalists will rant about the need to remove the funicular, while the ‘free access from the funicular’ brigade will say the present system is illegal - but why isn’t someone like Nic B putting forward the true facts? Ray S says he must be right because no-one ever challenges him - why not? Shouldn’t CML/HIE have a say? word goes around that they are apathetic - but this is crucial to plans for the future!
January 28th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
If the car park goes pay and display, will season ticket holders get a parking permit?
January 28th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Thanks Ron, to be honest I only stumbled across the Audit Scotland reports this week and have only really given them a cursory glance to fill in some blanks. I read a few years ago of the financial problems that CML were facing and since then I’ve tried to keep up with where it’s all at. I’ve a bit of a soft spot for the ‘gorm and would hate to see any kind of demise, that’s my only interest.
I don’t think the reports really paint the current picture, but from what I can see (and there will be lots of better informed folk that will keep me right), skiing on Cairngorm doesn’t seem to financially stack up at all and requires propping up with some serious public investment. So I reckon HIE and CML are caught between a rock and a hard place, in that the 20-26m investment in the funicular is founded on the basis that if skiing cannot operate for more than 12 months for financial reasons, the whole thing would need to be removed from the hill at a potential cost of 50m to HIE, and therefore the taxpayer?
So if I’ve got that right I would guess that wouldn’t look too good at national level and therefore skiing should hopefully be safe for a while yet. But on the other hand that’s quite a bit of financial baggage to carry and therefore you would think any future investment where we started this conversation off on the ciste chairlift would be unlikely.
If my reading of it is right it’s just occurred to me that after 20 years as a taxpayer for once I’m finally getting something back! - suddenly I don’t feel too bad about Jacqui Smith treating herself to plasma tellies at our expense (if I’ve got that wrong though I would really rather not know).
Anyway that’s how I’ve read the current ’state of the nation’, if I’ve missed the point by a bit or a mile It would be great if the folk from HIE could provide an update if they read this blog. I understand that independent consultants have been developing a new business model which should now be complete?
Whilst I think skiing on the ‘gorm will be around for a while for the reasons I’ve guessed at above, I suspect there is a bit of an official moratorium on divulging where it all might go. You may recall Colin’s predecessor Bob Kinnaird used to discuss how he saw the ‘bigger picture’ but when folk started asking sticky questions on his blog I always sensed the shutters used to come down a bit. You may also have noticed in this wee discussion that there is only the customers who are supposing at what might happen in the future?
Right Colin. Enough of this serious chat which you’ve sideswerved so far
I will be up on Saturday for a wee ski, I have never been on a skidoo before so if I promise to drop this subject matter I would love a lap of the Ptarmigan bowl on your new machine? Failing that if you gave me half an hour in one of your piste bashers shovelling snow I would be eternally grateful 
cheers
Simon
January 28th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Audit Scotland Report: I agree completely with you Barry that this report alone should not form the basis of any future expansion/retention plans. But AS is too important to ignore and my understanding is that its work is generally well regarded by those in places of power & influence (whom we’ll need on our side).
Thanks David-bro for listing some of the key criteria linked to European funding. It looks as if HIE would find it impracticable (if not near impossible) to let CML go under. But how much more it might do to expand the operation is a quite different question. As I mentioned earlier, I’d like sight of the report to be seen by the Board in December - presumably this is the new business case which you mention.
Cheers
Ron
January 29th, 2010 at 7:18 am
Hi Simon
I dont intentionally try and sideswerve the serious chat, i think it is great, and the more people who read this blog and topics discussed the better. It is quite political now with what is going on, but we (CML) still have to concentrate on running the ski area business to the best we can with the kit we have, every day brings its own challenge and there is a great team spirit just now and it is a fantastic place to work.
Simon if you pop in and see me at the top and pretend you have a sore knee,i,m sure a ride can be arranged.
The Lynx 800cc “Yeti” 4 stroke had an outing in to Sneachda yesterday with 2 Patrollers to assist in the rescue of an injured climber - All went well i,m glad to say.
Cheers
Colin
January 29th, 2010 at 8:15 am
Thanks Colin, hope Coire doesn’t pine too much! Would I be right in thinking I’ve seen Heather and Millie at work on telly?
I’m all for supporting carpark pay and display. Was supposed to come up today, but doesn’t look like it, will try and get up weekend with kids and hopefully get up through week next week.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:45 am
[quote]The Lynx 800cc “Yeti” 4 stroke had an outing in to Sneachda yesterday [quote]
You couldn’t accidentally lose one of these over at the Clash could you ;). We could do with a replacement for our underpowered 2 stroke skiddoo. It has great dificulty pulling the roller and track cutter in soft snow and easily bogs down just on its own in deep snow. With the amount of snow we’ve had this year we could have made good use one of your small piste machines.
Dave
January 29th, 2010 at 10:33 am
susan,
Yes she has been on telly a few times now i think.
dave,
have you ever thought about a quad with a track system on for the winter, and you can get plough attachments put on, i guess it is down to money, but some of these big quads will go anywhere with the tracks on.
Cheers
Colin
January 29th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Cheers Colin there’s absolutely no doubt you guys do a brilliant job. Looks like if conditions tomorrow are like today it shouldn’t be too hard to bump into something and sort a knee injury out……..
January 29th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Hi Colin,
We hadn’t until you said that CML were thinking of using them instead of skidoos as they would be usuable summer and winter when I chatted to you in the Ptarmigan in December. I past the suggestion on to our ‘main pisteur’.
Cost would be a problem, plus we’d be worried about how well it would work in deep soft snow. Due to road conditions, plus the fact that the pisting is done by volunteers we can end up pisting when there is a lot of deep snow. We have experience with the skidoo and know a more powerfull one than would solve most of the problems. With the skidoo we know that we can pack the snow down first with the skidoo before going round towing the roller and track cutter.
If it would work in deep snow a quad with tracks would be ideal, as it would allow us to move snow around with a plough aswell as piste in the tracks. Not possible with the skidoo so we can’t plough out drifts and it would be usable in the summer for trail maintainance with ordinary wheels.
Cheers
Dave
January 29th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Dave
Adam had a polaris quad on site last year, and with the track sytem on it would go pretty much anywhere including very deep stuff.
Simon, give us a shout tomorrow, if we dont get up the top,any staff member with a radio will get a hold of me.
Cheers
Colin
January 29th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
SM, your experience of skiing on the last day of last season should be set in stone and used by the marketing departments of all the ski resorts.
I’ll ski whenever there is snow but by far may favourite time is April and May. Yes the powder of this month has been superb, but in spring the hill has a different light and feel to it. Vertical might be less, but blue skies, higher sun, spring snow, skiing in less clothes ( not bikinis personally !) just make it a fantastic experience.
As you said, the perfect time to learn a new snowsport, play in the park or simply just enjoy the environment while going up the T bars. In winter in strong S E winds going up the T bars can seldom be descibed as an enjoyable experience even if coming down is fantastic !
January 29th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Doug despite what Jamie has said your recollections are 100% right, Cairngorm Chairlift Company did purchase snow making from Mar Lodge - although calling it snow making by all accounts would be wrong, as it produced mushy sludge that created ice rather than snow. Apparently more time was taken trying to unfreeze pipes than snow manufacture. You are also correct in the fact that the mighty sheiling platter lift was also purchased from Mar lodge and did not go to Glenshee. Anybody looking for a bit of Mar Lodge skiing nostalgia can experience it at the moment, as it is doing a roaring trade on the lower slopes at CairnGorm.
Jamie please update your note book.
It is also true that the Log building which housed the compressor and pump was moved to the Aonach and is still there. The Original Mar Lodge pump was replaced with a huge heavy duty one from Clydeside - befitting of Cairngorm at the time.
Sorry everyone - I will take my anorak off and put a ski jacket back on!
If the BBC ever include Scottish skiing in any future series of a History of Scotland thankfully it will be Neil Oliver presenting the facts and not JAMIE Oliver.
Although they both appear to go about in Kilts from time to time.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Colin,
Great to hear about the new yeti skidoo’s first outing off the reservation. Word on the street and the local taverns in the valley is that the two ski patrolling brothers would have made the first recorded skidoo accent of Aladin’s Couloir if they hadn’t stopped halfway up to argue about who was the better driver…
I also believe one’s goose is cooked and he’s been put on leave for a week because of this incident. With maverick ski patrollers like this you must feel like the ships commander in Top Gear who always smokes cigars, think he goes by the name of Stinker. Perhaps you could use the line \Son, your body is writing checks your ego can’t cash\…
Ciao
Ernist
January 29th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
cheers Colin, I was half ways pulling your leg about a shot on your skidoo, looks like you’ll have your work cut out tomorrow. I’ll give you a shout if it’s not really busy failing that I hope to be up plenty this season it would be good to catch up.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
A quad with tracks. Another thing I need to add to the Swiss Army tool and other really useful stuff collection. If it had an outboard as well and a special bridging device, would you need anything else (apart from a bar…)
January 30th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Thanks Helen. Yes, like you as much as I love skiing in all weathers and normally non stop all day, it was just such a lovely chance to just relax and take in and enjoy the whole atmosphere of that day with my son.
January 30th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Regarding the snow making equipment, I also would misinterpret the comment in the Strathy as first time in History!!!, (bear in mind my English is not so good, I did also have to look up digress:) However Doug’s info is exactly the same as I was told by the engineers who installed and ran this gear. I also remember it running at the top of the original Car park tow as a 5 or 6 year old kid and being terrified as I thought it was a machine gun!!!
If this is the same Doug, who was a Ski Patroller and an Engineer on the Cairngorm in the 70s/80s??? then he certainly is a reliable source and wealth of information on the history of the Cairngorm. He probably also still has half the parts to refurbish the West Wall chair in his garage. LOL
Great Blog Col:)
January 30th, 2010 at 11:50 am
The sheiling tow was built while the Mar Lodge Ski Area was operational so it is simply not possible for the Sheiling Tow to have come from Mar Lodge.
Perhaps the people involved on the Estate and in the Glenshee Chairlift Company at the time might just know from their records when the lifts were moved and recommissioned.
The Trainer Tow at Mar Lodge had traditional towers (Sheiling Tow does not), the longer T-bar had portal towers (all of which are now on the Cairnwell T-bar). That is the reason there is two types of tower on the Cairnwell, were extra towers were needed because of the different track profile.
Some of the snow making hardware, pumps, compressors etc could have gone to the ‘Gorm.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Doug/JC with regard to the snow making facilities on Cairngorm in the past I remember the pipes that lay on the side of the Carpark piste where the ground had been bulldozed. This was in the days before the Carpark tow was extended up to the Cas and the get off point was before the down slope. They were always frozen and the the cannons looked more like fire hose nozzles. Sometimes it’s good being that bit older to remember these things!
January 30th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Alan
could”ve should’ve- did . Fact
Good to see Colin’s snowmaking on again for the weekend, to freshen things up. Is it possible to turn it away from the the railway track for a few nights?
January 30th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Colin,
Although it has been dumping it with snow recently a wee question. Have you fired up the snow making machine yet to test it? And if not, whats your plan with it.
Cheers,
David
January 30th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Thanks JC. What can I say? ‘Hands up’, I accept from further comments that the CGM snowmaking is likely to have come from Mar Lodge so I accept I was probably wrong on that point.
However, as the Shieling tow opened in Dec 63 - at the same time as Mar Lodge opened (before closing in 65), it
is not possible for this tow to have come from ML. Apart from anything else, Glenshee confirmed that both ML lifts went to them. But perhaps it is the case that surplus portal towers ended up at CGM from ML where they helped form the Shieling tow? Either way, you seem quite knowledgable about the early development, so it would be great if you’d agree to speak to me at some point about the early years. Contact form in the link on my name if you’d be interested in helping record all this stuff.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
I have managed to get a bit more reliable info on the snowmaking. Firstly, it does seem Alan and Jamie are perfectly correct in that both the lifts from Mar Lodge went to Glenshee as they state, however a small part of Mar Lodge tows did come to CairnGorm, in that the electric motors from the tows were purchased from Glenshee. The big surprise to me, and no doubt others, is the Snowmaking at Cairngorm was entirely a Cairngorm project. As Jamie correctly said it did not come from Mar Lodge. They purchased their own compressor, pump and pipeline and the snowguns came from Switzerland, but as Alan says, they did get bits and pieces that came from Mar Lodge including snowguns, Jamie I am going to try to make contact with you privately. regards Doug
January 30th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Thanks for the update Doug - look forward to hearing from you. I can be contacted through the link in my name.
Jamie.
January 30th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Glad we got that all cleared up.
David
The water tank (that serviced the Sheiling) that what i was going to use in conjunction with Glenshee’s pump for the snowmaking trial is now under about 20 ft of snow . When we get some breathing space we are determined to get everything set up to crank the baby up.
Cheers
Col
January 31st, 2010 at 8:51 am
Colin, Pass on best birthday wishes to Ellie, will deliver present Monday - Can you wait till Wednesday before you fire up the snow gun.
May I suggest that you perfrom the trials outside the houses of the various contributors to the blog that dont seem to grasp the conditions that CML and volunteers with have had to cope with in clearing the roads, carpark and Mountain in general.
Finally, now that you have seen the effect of Winter Storms do you need to re-consider additional snow fences position to protect the track, or will it take a number of storms to determine a) if its worth the investment, or b) better understand the impact of severe stroms over a period of time
January 31st, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I don’t think there is much scope for protecting the Funicular Track with snow fencing specifically for that purpose without disrupting runs and/or robbing snow from them. An exception to this could be the elephant fences which could be moved further away from the Funicular Track in the direction of the White Lady burn, though it wouldn’t have helped in this instance.
The orientation of the main drifts on the White Lady indicated snow drifting on winds just South of South East, look at the large scale OS Map at:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=299683&Y=805066&A=Y&Z=115
In this case reducing the build up of snow on the Funicular would have required massive fencing on the M1 area, robbing the White Lady of large amounts of snow and in leaner times preventing the Lady from filling in at all. For the reliability of snowsports operations, the snow fencing has to work with not against the natural snow fields.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:09 am
Alan,
Great answer, just bigger shovels then
February 1st, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Eureka! Can ye no run the snow cannon in reverse? in ‘Sook’ mode rather than ‘Blaw’?
February 1st, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Hi, Good to see CML being pro-active on this blog, keep up the good work. I get up to Cairngorm several times a year both in summer and winter staying on the carpark in a motorhome and skiing sat & sun.
If you put up pay and display meters, offer an overnight fee as well and I will gladly pay up.
Maybe you could also consider setting up a French style aire on the car park - basically this is just a parking area + some mechanism of getting fresh water and dumping waste water for a fee. The caravan parks on the ski road are always mobbed in the summer, you have the land, why not earn some cash from it? This could be done fairly easily small-scale by obtaining a ‘5 vans licence’ through the camping/caravan club.
If you are putting in power cables etc for parking meters, how about some pay-for electric hookups in a part of the car park as well?
Some WiFi covering the top section of the car park is cheap/easy and would be useful too!
Nigel
February 1st, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Colin. Had a great couple of hours this afternoon (Monday) skiing on almost perfect snow from the top of the hill to the lower car park. Visibilty was not too good at times but, hey, we ain’t lookin’ for perfection!
On a more serious note, I have now established that the HIE Board did, indeed, consider the specially commissioned report on CML from consultants Johnson Carmichael at its December Board Meeting. For those who have been taking an interest in this (it was referred to in Audit Scotland’s Report - see earlier blogs) December’s HIE Minutes can be seen at
http://www.hie.co.uk/Downloads/Board%20meeting%20minutes%202009/Minutes%208%20December%202009%20-%20Publication.pdf.
In short, HIE’s ongoing support is relatively positive but there is, clearly, much work still to be done. Worth reading items 4 and 10 of these Minutes.
Cheers
Ron
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:37 pm
nice work Ron, interesting reading. I wonder how many “extra summer visitors” they’d need to drum up to match my ski £££’s, but I wont go over all that again!!
how about a different approach to capital spend - money generated by skiing gets spent on skiing, money generated by non-skiing gets spent on non-skiing for any given business-planning cycle (do monthly updates if necessary), with a hedge in between or squirrelled away somewhere to protect themselves during a bad winter (or summer, for that matter).
Bottome line is that I’m more important and lucrative to the business than any summer punter, and consistently so during good, bad or indifferent ski seasons (ok so i lied about going over all that again!).
Agree it reads overall pretty positively, with I guess the way this season is shaping up is the biggest positive to any future investment!
Hoping to take a crafty day off friday and get up, weather not looking all that great so far though. Was dumping big-style this evening from about carrbridge south to aviemore on the drive home
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:47 am
Hi Colin,
From reading all the positive comments over the last few months and in the interest of striking while the iron is hot here is a suggestion which I hope summarises a lot of what is being said.
There appears to be a will to get the ciste side redeveloped and I agree with your thoughts on what should be done, a multi stage detachable chair servicing the ciste side, this would have the benefit of allowing access into the ciste area, service the west wall and the top stage could run from the top of the west wall to the ptarmigan providing beginner and spring/summer skiing. This would provide CML the flexibility to run different stages of the chair depending on the conditions and the demand. I would also see this development as needing to be multi-purpose to ensure that in the leaner years for snow that the facility is used, I am primarily thinking of mountain biking here.
I also agree with a lot of other peoples comments about industry and skiers helping/contributing to the redevelopment. Has anyone thought about establishing a fund or debenture scheme to help with the investment of a new chair. While some people may think why do we need to pay more money on top of day tickets etc if we want to Cairngorm to maintain its status as the premier ski resort in Scotland investment needs to be made and am sure many arguments could be made for and against.
Has CML thought about establishing an in interest group say on Facebook to gauge support for such an idea. There are few such groups already on Facebook with some good information etc. I appreciate Facebook is not everyone’s ideal medium but given recent successes using in raising money and developing interest this may be good way to kick the project off. If this is something that CML feel they can’t do for commercial reasons I would be happy to start the ball rolling.
Any thoughts,
Scott
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:08 am
Hi Scott
Thanks for all your comments, i think i will pass them on to Tania in marketing for her thoughts and get back to you soon. Come on up if you can- awesome day coming up methinks.
Cheers
colin
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:03 am
You’re right Scott. I’m not a mountain biker, but love cycling, and mountain biking is definately the future! Just about every second person I speak to these days are into it, and would love to give it a go myself! We have RAF and RAF Lossiemouth on our door step, a lot of keen cyclists there who probably travel abroad to get decent sport.
Came up yesterday, the Anoch Bowl was just first class - and I couldn’t see half the time, I can only dream about what it would be like today - I suppose I’ll just have to make do with the web cam today and get up later in the week.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Hey Colin
Coming up this weekend with some friends from Madrid, they can’t wait! How’s the Ciste gully looking, is it still loaded?
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:05 pm
DAVE
Loaded to the brim, awesome
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Only planned to ski Monday Tuesday and catch the ferry tonight - Managed to fit in the morning today as well. Would not of missed it for the world, some of the best conditions ever. Even tempted me to go off piste - On the ferry and legs still burning - thanks again for a brilliant skiing. Also no injuries
February 4th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Looking forward to our annual half term short break in Aviemore and hoping the awesome skiing conditions continue. Think the olympic torch events sound amazing and was wondering which runs they will take place on - the info says intermediate standard required but doesn’t say what grade of run it will take place on - hope someone can fill me in.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:52 am
Hi Cath
The torch light event will start at the Top Station then down the Traverse, Cas,Zig Zags and Lower Slopes back to the Day Lodge.
Cheers.
Colin
February 4th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Did you see the piece on the funicular in the latest Private Eye - criticism not fair I think and written by people who don’t understand the conditions here.
February 4th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Colin,
I’m aware it is going to be really busy on the hill during half term (I’m planning on coming up on the 15th) and I know you usually get a lot of people who haven’t been to the gorm before. Just wondered if you are thinking of or have already put up signs explaining the nuance that is queuing at the lifts. I’m not one for confrontation but I have a feeling I’ll be shouting New Queue to a lot of people.
Ali
February 4th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Ali
Over half term we hope to have more ambassadors and lifties helping with the queues, but feel free to shout as loud as you want
See you on he 15th.
Cheers
Colin
February 4th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
When up last Sunday, one of the lifties was positioned at top of Cas to help educate people with dismounting from t-bar - it seemed to be working well - Think his name is Callum? - who was doing a great job and was kept very busy - at one point he had a whole group of moaning (they wanted signs - not a person!!) middle aged men who had thrown their t-bars away having the pitfalls explained them.
At the weekend, and Feb holiday, If you have another member of staff available, it might also be beneficial at the top of the Car Park Tow as many dismounting beginners launch the t-bars away there.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Hi Colin. More excellent skiing yesterday & today although it was a bit chilly going uphill into the wind… but amazing coming down!
Scott’s comments (Feb 3rd 7:47am) are very helpful & he has some excellent ideas that should be explored. However, I’m concerned that the Johnston Carmichael Report (the one the HIE Board considered at its December Meeting) and the actions to be taken as a result might not have any impact on the Ciste side of things. This is not meant to be a criticism of HIE as resources are very limited. But if skiers/boarders/mountain bikers want to see something fresh happening in the Ciste, I believe a lot more work and (probable) fund raisng will need to be done.
Incidentally, the JC Report is not being published in full at the present time for public scrutiny but you can download the Executive Summary and Key Findings here: http://www.hie.co.uk/Default.aspx.ShortcutID-60784.faq_id-962.htm. Then click on http://www.hie.co.uk/Downloads/FOI-reading-room-cairngorm-funicular-railway/Sustainable%20business%20model%20for%20Cairngorm%20mountain%20funicular%20railway%20-%20executive%20summary.pdf and enjoy!
This Summary is essential reading for serious followers of the development issues. I am pursuing my own enquiries quietly meantime but it’s important that we all keep this issue active.
Cheers
Ron
Ron
February 4th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
and they’re never too quick to get out of the way either. I guess we’ve all been there before (seems so long since the first time I came to the gorm in ‘83) but I guess a few words in the right ears can’t help. It’s all about educating the grommets (and the middle aged men). The same thing happens surfing, you get someone drop in on you because they don’t really know what they’re doing but they won’t do it twice after you’ve told them the error of their ways
Anyway, if you see some beardy bloke on 1080s “educating” people in the M1 queue on the 15th, that’ll be me.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Have to agree about education being required with T-Bar release - a young skier was almost decapitated today at the top of the Car-park tow when someone threw the T-Bar away then skied down completely unaware of the danger of his actions. I’m amazed there hasn’t been a serious accident of this sort.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Colin , I have noticed a lot of snowsport enthusiasts from south of the border recently, even mid week days. Good to see many are beginners and intermediates making the trip. Should be good for repeat visits in the future. News must be spreading of the epic conditions at the Gorm.
I think I spotted you and your new 4 stroke workhorse at the funcross today, hard to see as those berms are like a canyon in there!
Thanks to the lifty’s for the tireless digging efforts, snow moving going on here there and everywhere it seems. Do you guys wax and edge shovels in the hire? I may get my one done for the next spell of Arctic air arriving next week!
February 4th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Unfortuntely today I saw the unfortunate results of letting go of the bar at the top of the cas. It flew over the rope and brought the lift to a halt as soon as it reached the next pylon on the way down. Lift had been stationary for at least 10 mins the last time I looked. Luckily it was near the end of the day and there weren’t many hoping to use the Cas.
Colin it might be a good idea to get some signs made and station them just before the get off ramp. Cheaper than using a liftie eh?
February 5th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Thanks Guys
There are various signs about the place, a big luminous one at the top of the car park, i have stood and watched at off ramps where these signs are and people dont take a blind bit of notice. We are in the middle of getting a chap making a DVD that shows how to get off and we will play these in the Ticket Office and Hire and in the Restaurants. We are pricing oil fixed boxes for the Cas and Car Park, when we introduced these to the Ciste and Ptarmigan it improved thing greatly as the do not retract as quick.
Bit stormy today, everything on hold.
Cheers
Colin
February 5th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Release of T-bar: The technique I use & advise (in general, there can be exceptions) is to wait until you actually stop at the top. Only then remove the bar from your bottom, hold & wait until the returning overhead attachment point is approaching you. THEN start feeding the bar/rope back up & hold on to it as long as possible so that it finally clicks firmly into place with minimal swinging. It’s smooth & almost like ballet.
My point is that emphasis should be made on waiting till you stop. Few folk seem to recognize this and panic ‘cos they think they’ll be dragged round the top wheel.
I’ve seen two people hit within the past few days and, as others have written, the offending \droppers\ were completely unaware. Let’s make it a \zero tolerance\ campaign to inform & educate for the safety & benefit of all!
Ron
February 5th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Will the twitter stamp on the first page allow you to update the status remotely? If so great improvement.
Now being picky it has overlapped on the link to Feb Mid term survival.
February 6th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Any idea when the park will be finnished? Coming up in 2 weeks and again 2 weeks after that keep up the good work.
February 6th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
I have updates from the CairngormMtn twitter account sent to my mobile (if you would like to do this there is a lot of information here : http://help.twitter.com/forums/59008/entries)
I’m not sure if it’s feasible but I think it would be a good idea to set-up a new twitter account for information relating to the lift & run status’
For example, today, when the ciste, ptarmigan & WWP opened you could post that on the twitter account, people who have it set-up on their phone, most likely the regular CM skiers, may go off to the newly opened lift, easing queues on others.
Anyway enough thinking, pretty good skiing today despite the not so great fog. Hopefully the winds won’t get up tonight and the train will be on early, and hopefully we’ll see the DLP running =)
February 6th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
If you need a hand educating people about releasing t-bars or queues then feel free to give me a shout - I’ve spent the weekends over the last month explaining how the lifts and the queue lines work anyway so nothing new there.
I’m afraid I wimped out today expecting chaos and it looks like I may have been right over this morning - but good luck for half term (and I’ll keep shouting new queue
February 7th, 2010 at 6:58 am
Julian,
Hope to have more of the main park going this week, and there is already,berms kickers and rails over in the Fiaciall area.
Cheers
Colin
February 7th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Thanks colin sounds really good, any chance of getting a few photos on the website, of what is already built and of the building of the park? As i and im sure many others would like to see what effort goes into building a snow park every year and also to show people what you have to offer.
February 7th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Hi Julian
Yeah will try and post some photos when we are building it.
Cheers
colin
February 7th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Col. For some time now, if you click on the CairnGorm Mountain Weather Forecast link at the bottom left hand side of the Home Page, you get the following error message:
Oops!
You appear to have tried to access a page that no longer exists!
Please choose a page from the links on the left. Choosing
‘Get The Forecasts’ will allow you to select an area from our new clickable map.
Can you have this checked please? The 3 day weather forecast at the top is OK.
Cheers
Ron
February 8th, 2010 at 12:44 am
The queues this weekend really highlight the fact that Cairngorm in its current dilapidated state cannot cope on busy days.
Why were tickets still being sold when it was obvious the infrastructure could not cope. Any people who were on the mountain for the first time on Sat morning I doubt will be back.
Imagine if the Ciste side was open an some of the pressure relieved with people accessing via the Ciste (RIP) and Aanoch (RIP) lifts. All the other areas in Scotland were running at full capacity and queues were 5 mins at most. You could also have operated when the road was blocked earlier in the season by accessing via the Ciste.
Cairngorm was always my first choice in the past but if I have to ski at a weekend I will not be coming to Cairngorm as simply you cannot cope.
I’ve also heard that there will not be any focus on winter sports in terms of future investment with the money being used to improve the summer visitors experience. I cannot comprehend this stance.
I fear that you are paying for the follys of others in terms of uplift capacity. However selling tickets when you cannot cope is simply ripping people off.
Is the Daylodge Poma back up and running or is it going the same way as the White Lady, Fiaciall T-Bar, Ciste and West Wall chairlifts and Aonach poma.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:29 am
Hi Ron
Thanks for that, i will make sure it is corrected.
Hi Steven
There were no queues to speak of yesterday and we probably had the same amount of people on site .On Saturday there were hardly any queues on the West Wall Poma or the top lifts which i think was probably down to the Vis. The problem was the train not being on first thing, i dont think people really appreciate the sheer volume of drifted snow we have had to deal with, there were teams digging away in horrendous weather on thursday and friday but with the wind consantly blowing it in again, it was a losing battle, the depth of snow in places around the track has been 7 or 8 metres in places.
I also think people have short memories of the queues when we had all the uplift in place, we used to have to put a patroller in the queue lines 30 mins before closing to try and get closed before dark, nearly fisticuffs on a few occasions.
On Saturday people buying tickets were also strongly advised of how busy it was and the large queues, but they still chose to buy a ticket. I certainly saw many people enjoying their day.
Last year over half term we had between 2500 - 3000 people on site every day for two weeks and yes it was busy at the hire and base station but once out on the hill there were never massive queues. I,ve queued two hours at land mark for a 30 second jump off a tree !.
Out of the 10 or 12 days we could not get up because of the roads being blocked the wind would have prevented the ciste chairs operating apart from two days anyway.
The Day Lodge Poma was back in operation again early afternoon after a great effort by the Sparkies and Fitters, the problem was not down to any neglect or lack of maintenance but again the sheer volume and weight of snow around the towers affecting the safety cables.
There is so much heresay, rumour and gossip about the future of development here at Cairngorm, but that is all it is. No descisions have yet been made, lets wait until they have before people get any more heatedly hysterical(not sure of the grammar there)
and melt down totally.
Steven i dont mean to sound to defensive here but you are more than welcome to pop in for a chat next time you are up,hopefully on a weekend day:0)
February 8th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
I read these posts every day with great interest in what others have to say, but I try to only post something if I feel something’s worth saying.
With what has been said recently about the lengths of queues when the Gorms are busy and the insinuation that tickets are being sold when the infrastructure can’t cope…Maybe it’s time someone should stick up for the very hard working teams who get things up and running for us to have fun sliding down the mountain.
What a lot of people fail to realise is that the Gorms is a business and like any business which wants to survive, MUST generate as much income as possible to enable the skiing to continue, let alone any re-development of the facilities.
No one is forced to buy a ticket and if they feel that they are not going to get their money’s worth for what ever reason, they should just stay at home or get up earlier to be first on the hill to make the most of their time and money.
With the unbelievable amount of early snow this season there is inevitably going to be more people on the hills at every location so hence the queues are going to be longer no matter how many uplifts there are.
The Gorms takes a heck of a lot of beating as far as varied skiing terrain is concerned but due to the time constraints involved in getting there, when I must, I do also ski at the Lecht simply as it’s a bit closer.
This season I have seen and been in queues at the Lecht, the length of which I have never seen before and I’ve been skiing since the late 70’s….So the Gorms are not alone.
Yes it would be great to see allot more new uplift development at the Gorms, including the reinstatement of the now de-commissioned chair lift which would help reduce the time standing about in queues.
But hey, cut the team a wee bit of slack….They can only do what they can do with the facilities and funds at their disposal.
A little bit of understanding from members of the skiing public wouldn’t go amiss.
Keep up the good work and just keep smiling.
Remember that you’ll only please some of the people some of the time….You’ll never please everyone all of the time.
Be back up again as soon as we can.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Don’t take my post as an attack personally, it was intended more as constructive critiscism. I am all for skiing in Scotland and when the conditions are like they are now I prefer to ski here than Europe/States. I support skiing in Scotland.
However if there were any first timers there on Sat morning they are going to be seriously put off skiing in Scotland which is a pity on the other centres where there aren’t as many potential problems with uplift.
I’ve had some great days on the Gorm this winter but if a similar situation arises again maybe suspending ticket sales until the problems have been solved would be a better idea.
Glad to see the Daylodge Poma back up and running.
Steven
February 8th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Hi Colin!
Regarding future development on the hill, I agree with you that people becoming “heatedly hysterical”, as you put it so poetically, will achieve nothing. With this in mind, a few of us have, indeed, sought to draw attention to the facts which include the most recent report presented to the Board of HIE in December 09 - the Johnston Carmichael Report. For those who missed earlier comments, the Executive Summary can be seen at http://www.hie.co.uk/Downloads/FOI-reading-room-cairngorm-funicular-railway/Sustainable%20business%20model%20for%20Cairngorm%20mountain%20funicular%20railway%20-%20executive%20summary.pdf.
There is a reference in this Summary (page 7, para 3) which suggests a timetable for the appointment of a new operator in April 2010. In my experience, it is better to liaise with decision makers while they are still in deliberation mode, rather than after the event. It is for that reason that we should be putting forward sensible views based now based on what is in the public domain and on our very wide and varied experience. Ultimately, as taxpayers, we carry the price of success or failure as public support, either directly or indirectly, will almost certainly be required for the foreseeable future.
Is there a forum of which you are aware that could carry these thoughts further?
If not, should we not have one?
Maybe you could start a blog purely for this subject so that those who only want to discuss/complain/compliment on skiing conditions can use the normal one. Sorry to persist (and bore a few folk, I’m sure!) but it is very important to us all.
Cheers
Ron
February 8th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Hi Colin,
Apologies again you must be really cheesed off with this particular thread. Just for the record you’re still doing a fantastic job up there, had the pleasure again the weekend before last it was just superb.
Ron, I’ve read the lukewarm JC report and the continuing comments on this thread. It makes me increasingly curious that I understand HIE read this thread as I’m sure the movers and shakers do at CML and there is absolute radio silence on here where things are going.
That’s why the caring skiing customers of Cairngorm are starting to speculate so wildly on what might be because we hate to see this slow and drawn out decline.
I’m absolutely with you that there should be some kind of forum for this kind of ‘big picture’ debate, because I don’t think here is really the place (as I’m sure Colin will agree) but I don’t see anywhere else right now.
Here’s my wild and unfounded speculation for what it’s worth. Conscious of some of the previous comments relative to uplift heading into decline I had a look round the hill last week and it was frightening to see how many tows were in increasing states of abandonment. If I allow myself to be cynical for a minute I suspect that the decision has long been made that further investment in snowsports is a waste of money, and rather than come clean with this view the best approach is to allow the skiing infrastructure outwith the funicular to slowly shrivel up so in a few years time it will be justifiable to say it’s all beyond repair, and there will only be the railway left which will be key to summer trade which will also pay lip service in the winter to the skiiers. Let’s be honest the ciste side is now long gone.
I also couldn’t see anywhere in the JC report any serious suggestion of attracting mountain bikers to the hill, who’s activities and very good money would in my view be very compatible with snowsports. Then again JC are accountants based in Glasgow, I wonder how much their report took cognisance of customer feedback? - the report doesn’t seem to be founded on too much lateral thinking. What would someone like Nae Limits come up with if they took a look at making the gorm pay??
I fully understand making a sound business case for Cairngorm is a real poison chalice mainly due to the most extreme environment which you guys work in. It just astounds me though that the committed skiing and potentially mountain biking community are clearly fairly soft when it comes to parting with their money in pursuit of their sport, and this is being completely ignored in favour of the random summer visitor who will spend 7 quid to have a ride on the railway and have a poke round the Ptarmigan to pass half a day as long as it’s not raining.
Seems such a shame when this is so much at the expense of the committed winter sports customers that live and breathe the ‘gorm, and from what I can see are more than prepared to put their money where their mouth is to keep skiing alive. Colin, you mentioned earlier that the whole thing is quite political at the moment, who is this politician and where can he/she be contacted?
If the decisions been made by people much better qualified than me all well and good but at least can we have a two way debate?? Come on HIE/CML, let’s here from you on here, set the record straight and please prove me wrong!!
February 9th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Highland Council have a Ward Forum meeting tomorrow (10th Feb) starting at 7pm in the MacDonald Aviemore Highland Resort. The main topic is the Cairngorm Funicular & the closed system. Speakers from Scottish National Heritage, Highland Council, Cairngorms National Park. No speakers from CML or HIE
February 9th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Colin,
Well deserved recognition in this article http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/story.aspx?intStoryID=7095
extracted -
Workers and locals at CairnGorm involved in a community “dig out” have been rewarded with specially commissioned whisky
The CairnGorm snow diggers with their commemorative Tomatin whisky
Following heavy snow in early January CairnGorm Mountain, one of Scotland’s five ski areas, underwent a huge community-led dig out effort to clear access roads, lifts and the summit restaurant in order to give access to skiers and snowboarders wanting to take advantage of the snow.
As well as staff from CairnGorm Mountain, volunteers from local businesses including The Ski School, G2 Outdoor Activity and CairnGorm Mountains Rescue Team leant their efforts to the snow digging and they were assisted by local contractors Jerry Job and Allan Munro Construction who provided heavy plants to assist with snow moving.
The community snow clearing from 12-17 January so impressed Tom McCulloch, the Managing Director of nearby Tomatin Whisky Distillery that he commissioned a finest blend Scotch whisky, named Big “D” to present to those involved with the team effort.
“I was talking to Dr Mike Langran, who is often on the hill assisting ski patrol at CairnGorm Mountain and gained an insight into just what efforts were being made to get the ski road and train ready to receive the public” said Tom McCulloch.
“It was a team effort on a huge scale involving paid employees as well as volunteers and contractors and it reminded me of the sense of community which is very much part of Tomatin Distillery’s heritage - one worth acknowledging and celebrating” added McCulloch.
“This generous and unexpected gesture from Tomatin is hugely appreciated by all of us who work at CairnGorm Mountain” said Ian Whitaker, Chief Executive at CairnGorm Mountain Ltd. “Running a ski centre on a Scottish mountain side presents huge challenges at times and it is not often that the effort that goes into getting lifts and tows up and running is so publicly recognised”.
Whitaker added “I would personally like to thank all the staff, volunteers and contractors who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in these past few weeks and to Tomatin for recognising those efforts with this gesture”.
http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/story.aspx?intStoryID=7095
February 9th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Scott, did anyone get back to you about starting an interest group on Facebook which you suggested on 03 Feb? - I would also be up for it if anyone at CML thinks this line of marketing is worthwhile. Glenshee make very good use of FB, it seems to get some cracking results for them particularly when the conditions are good.
February 10th, 2010 at 1:18 am
This might provide a few minutes entertainment to someone: Google have taken photos of the Whistler olympic park to allow people to view the resort using google maps (Street View) the pictures were taken by a camera mounted on a retrofitted snowmobile, video: http://bit.ly/97yrv2
I’m not sure we’ll see a bright yellow snowmobile with action heroes written down the side just yet, but a nice thought =)
February 10th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Hi Simon,
Unfortunaely not, but good to hear other people think it may be a forum to generate interest and establish the groudswell of support that may or may not be out there.
February 10th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Somebody recently commented on the Audit Report about an agreement sign by HIE and the EU for a closed system for 25 years. EU funding has nothing to do with conservation, that is the remit of SNH and the planners. ERDF Funding is about jobs and businesses and is given to areas of the EU which doesn’t reach 75% of the GDP of other areas. At the time the Funicular was built the Highlands was in an EU economic development area and still is, for a transitional period. Questions need to be asked of both HIE and the EU why such a dodgy agreement was signed. That contract needs renegotiating but nobody seems to have the backibone to start the process
February 10th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Great job in getting the DLP up and running again on Sunday. Mountain was amazing ; oddly quiet for a Sunday I thought, but the car parks were full (top, bottom and Ciste) so it’s apparent that the tows were running nicely and the distribution of bodies was going nicely too. Thanks to all for a brilliant day’s boarding and good luck for the rest of the season.
February 10th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Cheers Scott,
Rightly or Wrongly I’ve set a group up on Facebook. I’ve come up with an original title and called it ‘Cairngorm Mountain’ and nicked a profile pic from VisitScotland’s website so will have probably infringed their copyright :-0. Col hope you don’t mind I’ve invited people to redirect their ‘big picture’ comments there so it may give you a break!
If this helps your marketing great (and please join!!) but if you are about to do something similar and feel this might compromise your own marketing let me know and I’ll remove it.
If we think this is a good idea I would be happy to hear any comments on the name / purpose of group description.
It could also use some more pictures!!
Cheers
Simon
February 10th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I think it was my comment - I agree with your logic, but I would not envy the task of changing the EU funding agreement, it would probably take the remaing term of the agrement to agree, but that is not a reason not to try
February 10th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Hey Colin,
Kicking myself just now. Was up this morning couldnt see a thing, legs sore, still recovering from a long flight back from holiday so gave up at 1200ish. Now the clouds have gone!!!!! Never mind, amazed by the amount of snow up there incredible, it wont be going away anytime soon. Beats Ski Dubai!!! Although that was quite an experience being chased by camera men all over the place demanding that you buy their pictures!!!!!!! and sitting on a 4 man quad going at the slowest speed possible YAWN!
What has happened to the Pistey Beastey at the top of the Ridge Poma, did someone go joyriding in it? I think I saw the tracks off?
Best run today was the White Lady, down the Sheiling gully and down to the bottom… worst nearly falling on my arse due to the Ice I couldnt see on the DLP run, still had a chuckle at myself.
Be back up after the school hols, I suspect you will be rather busy.
Cheers,
David
PS why are people obssessed with the HIE report, its like the Houses of Parliment, but much duller! Wait and see what happens guys, and enjoy the snow!!!!
February 10th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Cheers david,
Aye the 240 threw a track at the top of the ridge but it is back in business now, see you soon
Col
February 10th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Scott,
How disorganised am I, there’s already a ‘Keep the Ciste and West Wall Alive’ group and a Cairngorm Mountain Appreciation Society Group (which I was already a member of for 2 years -doh!)
Nearly 1,000 members for the west wall / ciste group, only thing is just gives CML a complete bashing, it would benefit from more positive debate. Concensus among the 1,000 members seems to be similar to where I think things are at with the skiing side of the business. Think I’ll scratch my wee FB addition and add to the debate which is already there.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?v=wall&gid=255622873826
February 10th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Hi Colin,
Had a brilliant day today, was having a great time on the White Lady, she was gorgeous, even when we couldn’t see - but then when the sun came out - WOW! Skiied places I’ve never been able to before either because lately, not been able to see much or never been enough snow!
Was it busy today? Every time we got to a lift, we got straight on, never had to queue once - but the car park seemed full! Keep up the good work.
February 10th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
J&S
Glad you enjoyed your day, we are pretty busy every day it seems but everyone is spread out so it seems quiet. Thanks again for all the supportive comments.
Swalshy
Dont worry about the CML bashing, we have deflector shields built in to our radios, water off a ducks back really, same old same old, but it keeps us amused, looks like the season of seasons and glad to be a part of it, lot more things in the world to worry about in the grand scheme of things,just glad the office is on top of a mountain.
Cheers
Colin
February 10th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Hey Colin, well said brought a smile to my face - wind up the band, sit batch and watch the fun.
As to an office it definitley beats looking out on the Lyffe in Dublin, and the daily hassle of travel. But at least the Guiness is good.
February 11th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
This was just to say thanks to all of those at cairngorm. The reason for this is earlier in this blog I mentioned the M1 poma was being a bit visious but when i was up on saturday and sunday it was much more forgiving so thank you colin if you had anything to do with this.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Thanks iain
Yes we have been trying to get the ramps sorted out with shovelling and machine time to try and improve things
cheers
Colin
February 12th, 2010 at 7:12 am
Just wanted to post a note offering some feedback on your website. It’s good to see the Cairngorm team making an effort to have updates posted at the start and end of each day letting people know how the conditions are and also what the prospects are for the following day.
Keep up the good work guys.
February 12th, 2010 at 7:27 am
Good news about the M1 poma but there goes that great spectator sport watching the beginners go flying at the start
You give with one & take away with the other
Can’t wait till monday as I’m coming up for the day, hope the queues aren’t too big but hey, it is half term. I’ll pop into to say hi Colin. good to put a face to the man behind the blog.
February 13th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Colin,
I think running the shuttle buses from the ciste is a great idea as it enables the ciste gully, east wall etc to be skied fully without having to traverse or hike back to the WW Poma.
Credit where credits due.
Still need some improvement in uplift in that area though.
Cheers
Steven
February 13th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Thanks Steven
Yes they are getting well used, had a few runs down the gully and burn line mesel, lovely run. I think Hilly said that she was doing laps using the buses quicker than when she used to use the two chairs and ciste tow to get back to the top, might start a petitiion to buy two new buses with all terrain tracks on and everything would be sorted (calm down everyone only joking).
Hope everyone has a lovely valentines day tomorrow and brings their love to the Hill.
Cheers
Colin
February 13th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Hi Colin,
Had an amazing day yesterday (Friday), best yet I think. We finished the day off with a run down the Ciste Gully and the east wall etc to the car park, then wished we had done it all day. Haven’t been able to do it before as usually up through the week when there are no shuttle buses. What will happen after half term, will you still be running the shuttle buses through the week, or will that stop? It’s just so good there! Hope you have a great week ahead.
February 14th, 2010 at 6:56 am
“might start a petitiion to buy two new buses with all terrain tracks on and everything would be sorted ”
Fit out the Shuttle buses like that quad bike I saw on Saturday and you’d not need to worry about the road being shut again!!
February 14th, 2010 at 10:23 am
absolutely Alan, that machine was all over the Estate, up and down the West Wall, Aonach, laogh Mor and a few other places. It is the most impressive machine i,ve been on. It will climb and descend pretty much most slopes without slipping. It is a canam 800, the same engine as the Yeti skidoo with the Apache Track system. Might try and get one, useful for the summer as well to get to difficult places as the track do less damage than tyres to the vegetation.
Cheers
Colin
February 14th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Alan, Piste machine all the way down gully and burn line this morning as far as the fence perpendicular across the burn snow a bit soft this afternoon but still good.
Cheers
Colin
February 14th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Hi Col - what work was being undertaken on the WWC today? Any word on why the bottom rig is in the state its in?
February 15th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Jamie.
More rumour and incorrect info again causing more hysteria, work has been continuing removing Aonach equipment which has been going on every year when snow cover allows. We were deicing the rope on the WWC as the rope sagging was becoming a hazard. We have no hidden agenda up here if anyone wants to know anything come and ask me.
After the holidays we intend to keep running the Ciste Shuttle every day if there is still skiable routes back to the Car Park.
Cheers
Col
February 15th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Col,
Well said, I just dont understand that a certain website owner continues to be the worlds greatest virtual ski resort manager. He doesnt understand that his off the cuff comments can do so much damage, instead of enjoying the conditions and the season so far.
The Cairngorm team are doing a fantastic job so far this season. With the equipment available. I hope this individual realises that snowsports are still on the future agenda for Cairngorm and that the mountain provides incomes to all businesses in the valley.
Comments such as his on third party websites are doing the area no favours and quite frankly they are embarassing. If the mountain was my business, I would not want the gentleman near it, and prove the critics wrong.
Having spoken to 100’s of people this week visiting the area for skiing, let me assure you they are delighted and enjoying the mountain and the conditions on offer. If we keep these punters happy then investment will come to the hill. If people continue to slag the mountain off then numbers could potentially decline and investment wont come.
Sorry for my rant, but for all the times I visited this season, I dont have any complaints. the whole team on the hill are doing a fantastic job and credit has to be given where it is due.
Cheers,
David
February 15th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Hey Colin
Was up on Saturday with some friends and had an awsome time. Snow was superb - even when it was falling out of the sky!
Colin, one thing that felt absolutely frustrating was the time during the day when the funicular developed a fault.
My point - as there was no exit to the M1 tow from the white lady it meant skiing right to the bottom and picking up one of the tows, which Im sure you can imagine were very busy because of the funicular situation.
The white lady probably has the best snow on it in decades yet there was barely anybody using it because of the situation with the funicular - what a waste of an amazing ski field.
Colin, if any funding ever becomes avaliable for redevelopment please consider a new white lady ski tow to be an absolute priority.
Huge thanks for all the hard work you and your team put in, and roll on this Saturday.
February 15th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Colin, good work on the pisting lower down the Ciste, will hopefully help it last too if it gets more consolidated.
Great news about the shuttle bus. Not happy about the Aonach Poma news.
February 15th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Hi Colin
Was up this morning at 7.50am. Went to rangers station to exchange 4day vouchers as normal. I was about 6th in the queue. However, the norwest or norski instuctors were at the front of the queue getting around 40 tickets. It took 30 mins for the guys to process them. The queue then started moving but when I got to the front, the SOS instructor came straight in and jumped the queue to get 8 pre-booked tickets.
I realise that these instructors are up all the time, but all customers are important. There was a queue of around 30 people outside by this point when I left.
I would add that I had vouchers last year and have never came across this before, but I was disappointed that they jumped the queue in the manner they did.
Could it not be arranged that the voucher booklets could also be exchanged at the cash till as well because the queues are normally smaller there and it would not slow the queue up too much as no cards are involved, especially on very busy days.
I gave up anyway at this point due to the sheer numbers arriving on the mountain, the weather and the lack of uplift (not blaming CML for any of this) and will keep my vouchers for another better day.
thanks
jenny
February 15th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Thanks Colin
Looks like it was busy today!
February 15th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Hi guys. The hill looks amazing. May be heading over from N ireland next weekend on my own unless some people can get time off work. The snow conditions look too good to miss out on.
So when was the last time you had snow this good? How many people approx have been on the slopes this season so far, i am sure there have been a lot.
Anyway hope to be there next week. Keep up the good work guys
Keith
February 15th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
That’s great news about the shuttle bus Col.
I’d my skins on today, and out of curiosity I switched my GPS on at Cairngorm summit weather station and skied via Coire na Spreidhe and Coire Laogh Mor to the Ciste car park. 3 miles in total with a vertical of 700m. ( or almost 2300ft. Sounds more !).. Fantastic ! .. and the bus whisked me back round to the Cas within a couple of minutes of boarding it.
February 15th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Thanks Folks
I believe today we have done more numbers of people on site since the Funicular opened, thanfully after a shaky start the weather calmed down and we had another superb day. I dont think the queues were too bad after the initial base station, hire and ski school scrum. We rounded off the day with the torchlight descent,skidoo and Piste machine rides. It was a bit of a learning curve and if the weather plays ball we will do another one on Wednesday evening, a lot of people sure had a great time though.
Dave M
I can see your point about no access back to the M1 from the Lady, we thought about trying to doze out the usual route at the bottom but the snow is really solid in there now, might have an idea though.
Jenny
Sounds frustrating your experience, i will pass on to the Customer Services Manager to see if we can do something.
Cheers
Colin
February 15th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Hi Colin,
Just a quick note to say I really enjoyed the torchlight descent tonight, I felt like a kid again and like a kid wanted to go back up the hill and have another go! Wish there could be a night descent each month….! Keep up the good work.
Cheers.
February 15th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Had a thought about another revenue stream for CML, based on comments on the other site - Get Facebook to set up MountainVille or maybe Fantasy Resort Manager.
Cheers
February 15th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
“I can see your point about no access back to the M1 from the Lady, we thought about trying to doze out the usual route at the bottom but the snow is really solid in there now, might have an idea though.”
The fact this forces people to spread out round the hill and find different ways back up the mountain might well be a major factor in why the M1 queue has rarely been as bad as one might have expected recently.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:16 am
David,
A lot of this ‘hysteria and speculation’ could be cut dead in a stroke if there were some detailed comment from the management on this discussion thread relative to the Ciste. Any official comment clearly seems to be avoided, I’ve asked on a number of occasions and I’m still none the wiser. That’s why people are suspicious.
Obviously this is an emotive subject all round so as previously suggested by others a separate forum from this blog on the CML website may perhaps be an idea where this debate could be taken away from customers more interested in ‘day-to-day’ topics. I’m not pushing my opinion about here, merely a suggestion.
The defensive responses from CML expressed on this blog in my view cause more damage than third party websites which to be honest have a fairly specialist following.
I’ll put this in the context that I agree with you entirely that the day-to-day running of the hill is superb in my view. That’s why I don’t go elsewhere.
February 16th, 2010 at 7:26 am
Simon, I know this started off as Bobs blog, then Colin Patrol1 took it over in the winter. Since then Colin has become Operations Manager and though I am biased I see continuous improvement with more or less no change in resources available. I would not expect the Operations Manager to discuss the policy and plans of CML on this blog. To take your suggestion, reinstate Bob’s blog in addition to this one - maybe call it Ian’s blog.
February 16th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Colin,
Fannnnntaaaastic day today. I was one of the lucky ones today who understood that high gear and plent of oooomph is the way to drive up the hill and made it 10 minutes before you had to close the road due to people in 4×4 and camper vans causing carnage!!!!!!
Had the mountain to ourselves today for 3 hours and it was excellent. We couldnt work out what was the run of the day however I enjoyed the right side of the DLP run on the way down with some nice fresh tracks cut out. Also the Faciall Run down where the old tow was, well it was lovely aswell. Just loved battering down those runs.
Also the white Lady to Faciall Ridge Poma was excellent. Straight down the Shieling gully and across, loevely powder to be found!!! Dont dig a tunnel to the M1 poma just yet as people are moving nicely around the mountain.
Q’s no issue today before the on slaught of afternooners, skied from 0800hrs to 1500hrs and love every moment of it.
Only issue was queing at the FRP and the CPT late in the day. Those two tows are being abused by those that do not know Q’ing etiquette. The rest were fine! Bit annoyed with the Cairngorm Ski Club who were a bit cheeky!
Many thanks for the day and hope you are down for a pint on Sunday after the races!
Cheers,
David
February 16th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Thanks David
On a day off today, the road got bad at closing time, just got handover by mobile from the boys at 7.00pm just leaving the carpark in convoy down the link road, never a dull moment up there. 4.00 am start tomorrow for this incompetent senior manager so i,ll say nite nite. Are the beers on you on Sunday night?
I see we are down to wages now on other sites, i,m going to start a petition to get the Purps un masked and then appoint him Chief Moderator for Scottich Skiing:0)
Col
ps i was not planning a tunnel but a snow bridge overpass
February 16th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Good job Colin i wouldnt worry too much about comments on other sites i just think its people commenting about a mountain they are very much passionate about and love.
good luck with tommorow and the fresh tracks
Mark
February 16th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Sorry Colin, I think I started that one off, not my intention. Just trying to point out that there is more to reopening the WW - there is ongong costs that have to be covered year on year, I am all for the WW chair being re-instated but it can’t be a knee jerk reaction it has to properly thought out and sustainable and I am sure as much as you are committed to skiing you will take a balanced view. But from what I read on other sites I dont think you will ever please some - their balanced view is a chip on both shoulders
Reckon I owe you !!!
February 16th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Hi David,
Agreed, or alternatively nothing would stop Ian responding now and then on this blog.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:47 am
Hi Colin,
I can sense some friction between CML and the website Winterhighland. Is this really a sensible situation when there are probably POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS reading this blog and the forums on that website and seeing some of the petty squabling and backhanded comments going on with what looks like employees of CML.
Most people interested in Scottish skiing probably get directed in one way or another through to Winterhighland. Would it not be in everyones interests to have a good relationship with each other for the benefit of Scottish Skiing.
I know I’m only an outsider looking in but is it really proffesional to have all these rumours, comments, opinions etc simmering in public on forums and blogs.
Come on everyone (you know who you are), sort out your differences and move on.
On a lighter note - If the roads ok it looks like its going to be a blinder today judging by the cams in Aviemore.
Cheers
Steven
February 17th, 2010 at 6:16 am
Quite right, lets move on, all i,m saying is if people just come and see me to get facts first before all the rumour nonsense descends into pages and pages of inaccurate threads.
Could be a classic day in prospect.
Cheers
Colin
February 17th, 2010 at 7:30 am
Let’s not turn this into the “Patroller’s Blog: Big Dig at Winterhighland”
As Mark Monteith says I think a lot of people have a genuine fondness for Cairngorm and skiing there, but have realised (in these excellent conditions) that perhaps the infrastructure isn’t necessarily up to catering adequately for the high numbers of folk that want to ski there. I also think there’s a real appreciation for the folk employed on the mountain and that it’s considered a great job is being done by those putting in the work day to day, particularly I think this season the work done pisting down to the Ciste car park has been excellent.
Now, it may be that there are some ‘moaners’ but the overwhelming majority are simply looking for a way to resolve the issues of uplift. Similarly, it’s probably best in reciprocation to ignore the ‘moaners’ and concentrate on the positives and what can be done to potentially resolve this situation.
Winterhighland is a part of Scottish Skiing, the info it provides to snowsports enthusiasts, whether it be webcams at the ski centres or backcountry reports, hotel offers, ticket deals for lift passes etc. is excellent and helps to promote CG and skiing/boarding as a whole.
I’d say if anything the feeling is simply one of frustration that in these exceptionally good conditions, the CG experience for *some* isn’t all it could be (and it’s mainly capacity and uplift issues), but mostly folk just want to get it sorted, or atleast talked about in the open. Whether that’s viable or not, I don’t know, but positive dialogue from all quarters is necessary for it to have any chance.
There have been a lot of good suggestions on the blog (I’d like to add my name to the Voucher book being redeemable at the cash desk if possible!) and it’s great to know these are taken on board.
Anyway, back to the hill, the snow looks amazing so I’ll be up on friday I think, and am looking forward to the snow bridge over the train
February 17th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Colin, I am taking some the advice from another website, after the latest rants and raves, voting with fingers and not going to participate on it again. Any contribution they do make to skiing is swamped by the biased unfounded rants and raves.
I am about to start my comuter journey into Dublin, you on the other hand can blast down the ciste in 7inches of fresh powder - priceless. I know where i would rather be.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Steven ,still trying to move on but the webmaster is again saying we should be removed from the hill, i am trying to be reasonable but this is what we are up against, not one of these guys has come any where near me to ask what is going on just continually stirring thing up.
another epic day up here with surprise surprise thousands of people having a great day.
Cheers
Colin
February 17th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Hi Colin
Any chance of a pipe being built this year. There would be added interest because of the olympics and (probable) victory of Shaun White.
Might even attract some serious freestyle pros up to Cairngorm. Imagine Cairngorm being used in a ski/snowboard dvd.
Cheers
February 17th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Hi andy
In all honesty it probably wont be till nearer the end of the season when we can try it, a sthe chance of it blowing in again especially the way this season is going, but i.ll keep it in mind.
cheers
Colin
February 17th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Could cry right now looking at the web cams showing blue skis and wonderful snow, That I am missing!!!! Whilst I numb my brain in spreadsheets!!!
Colin et all - Take no heed of the moaners, I know what its like to have people badger on and on about how they perceive things are or how they should be done!!!.
Any sensible person would not use a blog to get a way forward. Things get misinterpreted etc etc. blogs should be used for quick messages, quick suggestions, funnies etc -come on lets get back to a bit of Criack!!!
Wish these people would keep the business that cannot be changed overnight for the suits behind the desks as its them they need to converse with!
cheers!!
February 17th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Colin,
I’d agree with Andy above. Building a pipe would be bloody great but you are right it would need constant tending in this weather. Please keep it in mind for later in the year. PLEASE!!!
ps I frequent WH and the next time I am up at the Gorm I’ll pop in and see if I can straighten out these rumours for them since the mongers won’t do it them selves! (shake of head) Unfortunatly I wont be able to get up for a few weeks :’(
February 17th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Colin,
I hadn’t been up to Cairgorm for a while until recently, I’ve been using the other ski centres. The place has certainly changed, no inference if it’s good or bad. I had a brilliant day out and couldn’t believe how lucky I was skiing in such conditions in Scotland.
I do remember being up with a group of work mates from England and me being the token Scot. They all still ski, it’s just that they head abroad. Anything that can be done to encourage more people to return to Scottish skiing or to take it up will help all of the Scottish ski resorts (to anyone who cares no more moaning it doesn’t help). For my small part I take every opportunity to remind my colleagues of skiing in Scotland, promoting how good it can be (much more often than people realise) links to webcams, my own photos. Good to see that you are listening to the public and where possible constructive comments are acted upon (e.g. bus timetable, etc).
February 17th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
I did go to see both Colin and Ian today, Ian was not on site and I was informed Colin was busy dealing with a casualty which is fair enough.
However myself and numerous other season ticket holders have met regularly with CML to discuss various things. So if there are no hidden agendas why is the Aonach Poma lying behind the Base Station in a heap with no forewarning to skiers?
Actions speak louder than words and the Aonach Poma is yelling….
February 17th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Hi Alan
Sorry missed you today, one of those days of casuaties, from dawn to dusk.
We have been steadily dismantling the Aonach over the last few years in broad daylight for all to see, ropes, counter weight, wheels tower heads, motor and this last wee while down at the bottom section, there is not even power there now and the Hydro will be removing the transformer very soon. We honestly did not feel the need to forewarn anyone as this has been getting dismantled for a few years now. There has not been or will not be any work undertaken on the Ciste and West Wall until a decision has been made either way whether to reinstate or renew the uplift over that side. We have various ideas and thoughts floating about just now and when we have a plan or strategy we will let people know.
We have not had hardly any breathing space since the end of the shutdown till now due to coping with running the operation at full tilt, but we are looking at various options. As i said before our doors are open and we have nothing to hide, apart from our snow fences, or somebody really has nicked them
Cheers
Colin
February 17th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Hi Colin,
I want to speak as a season holder within a season ticket holding “family”.
I do not hold the views or agree with the actions of this chap Alan Mackay and others like him.
I do not feel that I need to be informed of all operational company decisions. I actually pay my money and just want to ski in a safe and friendly environment. I have enough to worry about in my day job without taking on someone else’s!
The very reason you get our money each April is to show our confidence and pleasure with our “local” ski area.
Instead of them giving you guys a verbal battering behind their keyboards/ blackberry’s/ iphones ect they should have been on the road between the mountain and Glenmore with litter pickers, retrieving the many flyers in plastic bags which fell off car windows that are now littering the countryside, which could cause the local wildlife problems if they eat said items!!!!
People who are single minded to their own view point and don’t take into account the “whole” picture of their actions are dangerous cannons in my view.
Did they really expect every person to take the flyers home with them??? Some people can’t even take their own rubbish off the hill.
They really need to rethink their strategy, me thinks…. This kind of action will never make me agree with them, I’m sure I’m not alone.
Rant over!
Cheers.
February 17th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Colin,
That’s a really open, encouraging and positive response on the Ciste and WW chairs that has certainly answered one of my questions, insofar as CML are reviewing the retention of Ciste uplift in a positive way. CML critics should be encouraged by this.
Fairly straight to the point update on the Aonach poma too, won’t be what some people want to hear but still a good straight answer.
This is just the kind of feedback I’ve been looking for. Hopefully others will find this helpful too.
Thanks,
Simon
February 18th, 2010 at 12:24 am
Here was I thinking that 3 weeks in Idaho would be great for weekends but apart from a bit of sun I wish I had been able to ski at home looking at these pictures on WH today. Just hope Targhee or SnowBasin meet my expectations this weekend. Never mind hope to be past jet lag in time to make the last weekend in February and have my shovel ready to dig the train out again.
February 18th, 2010 at 6:27 am
Thanks Folks
Yes Lorraine i noticed a lot of the flyers lying about the place, my car got special treatment with some extra ones, i,ll leave Coire in the car next time with the window open and he might lick then to death. Hope the bags dont affect the wildlife though.
CheersColin
February 18th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Hi Colin,
and back to the M1 and Cas as the only uplift usable and the queues lengthening and smiles reduced.
I am enjoying this season immensely. Have the boys been on pistie beasty courses? Looks like they have come out top of the class, the runs are being looked after very well the white lady in particular has been fantastic. I would love to have a go one of these days, little boy dreams of driving diggers one stage further! There could be a revenue stream, 1 hours beasty driving for £xx per hour and you get the runs bashed into the bargain!
Is the dismantled hardware of the Anoch in a usable condition? Could it happen to be “stored” in an upright position beside the M1 poma or where the white lady was? We have been very lucky with the weather this year and last with people spread all over the mountain making queues fairly acceptable but we know the cycle will change some time
Don’t get disheartened with complaints, people are frustrated and vent on the net. It is a shame to see well loved lifts being removed but I have perceived an over all improvement over the last two years with what we have.
I have seen you on the mountain in the last few weeks and know how hard it has been, don’t over do it, if you burn out the good work will be undone!
Cheers
February 18th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Hi Colin,
Had a fab time up on the mountain on Monday and Tuesday and was gutted not to be going up on Wednesday (sadly back to work in Yorkshire). This is my third year on the mountain and I have to say, as always, the staff were excellent (even in the face of moaners who don’t understand the changeable nature of mountain weather).
Going back to the T-bar debate, all the signs were being ignored and I regularly saw incorrect usage of the Ptarmigan tow - next step seems to be having someone shouting instructions at the top (nearly did the job for you!).
Keep up the good work (especially the blog) and hope to be up again next year (same conditions next year would be nice!)
Cheers
Julian
February 18th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
There were several sweeps of the carparks done to look for and pick up flyers which had been discarded and I can assure Lorraine that they constituted a very small proportion of the litter and were far outnumbered by used lift tickets and piste maps. Perhaps they shouldn’t be issued either? On the other hand perhaps maybe people should take responsibility for their own actions and not discard their rubbish on the mountain.
Prevailing weather conditions and forecast were carefully considered so that flyers were only put out in calm conditions with no rise in wind speeds either forecast or likely.
The FCS consultation came out strongly against removal of the Ciste uplift and one of the repeated concerns was that if lifts were removed, it may prove impossible to replace them in the future.
The full review of the Consultation on the future of the CairnGorm Estate can be read at:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/CairngormConsultationFinalReport.pdf/$FILE/CairngormConsultationFinalReport.pdf
There are sections which deal specifically with the issue of uplift in Coire na Ciste.
One thing that I’ve found speaking to people over the past few weeks is how many people were unaware that there were plans to remove these lifts.
Also no one can argue with a straight face that having people queue for upwards of an hour in some instances (have timed it) without even access to the most basic of facilities like toilets in the Ciste is acceptable, esp when many have arrived there after a several hours long journey.
February 18th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Hi Colin,
I would like to try the Laogh Mor, sounds really good but how do you get to it? I would love to come up tomorrow, but know you are really busy this week, the earliest I can get up is 10.00 then probably have to leave about 2.00 (kids to school and home again). I know the queues are fine once you get on the hill, what’s it been like round about mid morning, or should I just be patient and wait until next week? It just looks better and better!
February 18th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Sus,
i think if you got to the Ciste for about 10 you should not have to wait too long for a shuttle bus to get round, if you want i can take you down Laogh Mor and show you, Tom pisted all the way down to the carpark today, pop in to the patrol room at the top i wont be too far away.
Cheers
colin
February 18th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
In reply to Alan,
The flyers I’m referring to were not in the carpark, I did not mention the car park, they were seen by me after the sugar bowl at frequent intervals with the main number of them as far as the gates at Glenmore.
I saw them on Saturday night, Sunday night and on Monday night. No doubt more will be in the woods etc as time goes on.
I actually picked quite a few up myself!!!
To be blunt there is no place in the countryside for flyers in plastic bags or not. One discarded flyer is ONE too many.
The estimations of how they would travel were completely wrong then, I wonder what else is, that’s how my brain works..!
I do not agree that you should blame the people who didn’t dispose of the flyers themselves. They did not ask this group to decorate their car.
I know I do not expect to park my car in a car park and have someone interfere with it. The only hands I expect to touch my car are mine and that of my passengers!
Again I say strategy should be re thought! There are many methods of communication, and winning hearts and minds opting for flyers in the countryside will always be questionable in my view.
Someone on the WH website even wonders what damage this litter could do to wildlife…. So is it only the lifts that are the priority for the campaign???… Comes over as \save the ciste to f*** with the wildlife\
For what it is worth - I also would like to see further development of our \local\ Ski area, as long as it is well thought out and viable. The word viable being key…
Colin,
Sorry for Hi jacking your blog…
February 18th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
“save the ciste to f*** with the wildlife\”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
If a flyer was put on my car anywhere I would not discard it outside, most certainly not on a mountain.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Hi Colin
Sorry to pester you, but is there any possibility of the 4day vouchers being exchanged at the cash office in addition to the ranger station this weekend?
or
On these busy weekend mornings, could the offsite ski schools be made to join the queue at the rangers station along with all the other customers, rather than walking straight to the front of the queue?
Just trying to plan ahead for saturday.
Thanks again
jenny
February 18th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Had the best day ever on Monday..looking forward to the weekend & to the Cairngorm Open Championship races.
Colin when it is busy could some of the ambassadors help with queueing?.
..many people do not know what to do and/or ignore what they should do..would definitely improve things
Also ambassadors could perhaps be at the top of lifts to remind people to feed the tbars in..many people do not seem to know what to do .
What about reopening the sheiling for hot drinks & pies etc & packed lunches?
Lorraine with regard to the Cite side of things it is not further development but reinstatemnet of the chairlifts that people are looking for.Discussion of the flyers is a distraction from the real issues.
February 18th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Lorraine, as I posted on WH I completely agree with you that any flier left on the hillside is completely unacceptable, and it really bothers me that these are apparently still lying at the side of the access road. This is of course far from the intention.
Sweeps were done of the road as well as the carparks at the end of the day on Saturday, on Sunday mid-afternoon, and another was to be done earlier this week.
You have my word that another full sweep will be carried out as an absolute priority.
Surprising array of different types of litter has been picked up on the sweeps so far - the awareness fliers have been very much in the minority.
–
All this said and done, can we get back to talking about snow and skiing?
February 18th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Cheers Colin,
If I come up, I will call in if your not too busy.
February 18th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Jenny
i have emailed myself at my work address to remind me to speak to the other Jenny and get you an answer tomorrow.
Anne, yeah looking forward to the races, get some good old olympic fever going, We have been trying to positin lifties at the top of tows and the ambassadors have been doing a grand job at the get ons, hopefuly soon we will have video in the buildings to help educate people.
Jamie, snow and skiing,you are absolutely right.
I skied out Laogh Mor at the close in the sunset,the vista, ambience and snow was up there amongst the best, and i have skied in a fair few countries, met up with Jim who closed the gully and burn line. looking down it could have been Lake Tahoe or Lake Louise but no it was good old Lake Morlich, it dont get much better than this. The scottish resorts should bid for the next olympics. Need to set my alarm to watch Lesley tonight in case i do the usual nod off in front of the telly.
Sus, if you come up and if i am not there,ask the boys i wont be far away.
Cheers
Col
February 18th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Hi Colin,
Thanks for your reply..
Don’t think you picked up on my query about the Sheiling? can it be reopened even if only for packed lunches & snacks..more income for CML!
February 19th, 2010 at 5:37 am
Hi Anne
Sorry missed that, in all honesty, i think to get the sheiling open just even for packed lunches would not be probable for this season but we will have a think about it. I know the water supply is not safe for use anymore and we hqave been using it as a store for the t -bars and other kit. The maintenance boys for the buildings also do the ploughs and carparking and getting the time is an issue at the moment, but we will discuss it and i will get back to you.
Cheers
Colin
February 19th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Hi Colin,
Sorry, my decision has been made for me! I’m all dressed for the hills, car loaded up and I’ve got a sick kid - hey ho!
Never mind, will be up next week at some point, keep the good weather and powder for us please. Might be up tomorrow with my other boy - is the Ciste Gully down to car park closed now?
February 19th, 2010 at 8:38 am
Hi Sus
No problem, yes Gully down to the Ciste Car park is still good.
Cheers
Colin
February 19th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Colin,
Just like to say I had another amazing day at the Gorm on monday. Didn’t get a chance to pop in to see you as once the wind dropped at the top and the sun came out it was time to rip it down the M1 & White Lady. I still can’t believe how good the snow is.
My mate & I were sitting like expectant school boys waiting on the Ciste gully to open. It was just superb to be the first & only two skiers in there at that point. Just to stop halfway down and listen to the sound of silence was unbelieveable. And then to be able to ski all the way to the carpark! Think I had a jacket with fluro pink on it the last time I did that.
The queues were nothing to speak of, even at half term, with so much snow everyone was well spread out on the hill. Only time things got busy was at the M1 in the afternoon when the Cas went out of action. Wonder how that happened? I guess you can put up as many signs & videos but some people just don’t get it.
Back up in a week for 4 more days and I can’t wait. Just hope there are a few more bluebird days like you’ve had this week. Nothing more depressing than sitting at a desk working while looking at those webcams.
Ali
February 19th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Jenny
We are putting on another till in the ranger base to help speed thing up, and ski instuctors are not entitled to jump the queue, so if you see this happening tell them to get to the back or make the staff aware, hopefuly we can nip this in the bud. we would rather not do the vouchers at the cash window, sorry
Cheers
colin
February 19th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Hi Colin, am gutted to be missing this season, but am v glad for you guys that you’re having such a good one! Have been following all the debates about future restoration/redevelopments with great interest - I definitely think reopening the Ciste/WW chairs has mileage, if nothing more than to spread people round the mountain a bit more. Experienced skiers could park quickly in the Ciste, leaving the funicular freer for novices and non-skiers.
Obviously this isn’t going to happen this season. But is there a possibility to relieve the bottle neck at the ticket booths in the Day Lodge by having a mobile ticket machine in the Ciste park? You could run it similar to the way train tickets are done - buy online in advance, then put your card in, ticket would be printed straight off. There’d still be a queue for the shuttle bus, but would remove one lot of queuing (at the Cas ticket booths) for people parking in the Ciste.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I posted a similair post to this on winterhighland but feel it should be said here too for those who don’t read WH.
The amount of bitching on here against WH/those who are trying to save the ciste and on winterhighland against CML, it’s supporters, it’s employees is ridiculous. Wrongly WH is tarnished with the brush of being wingers and personal attacks against people, in particular the admin are uncalled for. Likewise some people on WH have been unfair on CML and/or have tarred everyone who runs the place with the same brush. There are a lot of good people at CML, and who contribute on WH.
I don’t know how to fix this but there must be some way of creating a good working relationship between WH members and CML. At the end of the day we both want the same thing, good skiing and lots of people visiting. If HIE or whoever were, for example, to suggest scraping skiing we’d be the first guys standing at the picket lines together.
CML could do with being a bit better at communicating with the local community and those passionate about the place. Although Colin is doing a good job with this blog and in general everything is much improved on a few years ago. WH could do a better job of moaning less and standing up for the good, hard-working guys on the hill and the effort that has gone in this year.
I see no reason for CML not to say “we know there is widespread support for uplift in the ciste and we’d love to discuss it with you guys in the summer when it’s quieter. We see snowsports as a priority and here are our thoughts at the moment:” We’re all after the same thing but have ended up just bitching about each other like little girls.
Whether certain people have a chip on their shoulder against WH or CML it’s time to put our differences behind us and work on improving the mountain, uplift, aviemore and getting more folk up there. Together we stand united we fall.
With snow conditions like this we should be making hay not war!
Cheers,
Chris
February 19th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Hi Colin
Thanks for the great response on the rangers station voucher situation. I will take great delight in informing the ski instructors that they can’t skip the queue.
Thanks for all your help.
Jenny
February 19th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Just back from the Gorm. Visibility deteriorated as the day went on and I think I have bust a rib falling off a ledge in the flat light but a great day nonetheless. Got to board some routes I didn’t know existed.
A note of thanks to the women in the ranger station who gave me my tickets at 7:40am (I don’t think they officially open until 8am). We were on the Daylodge T-bar at 8am and up top shortly after via the M1. The downside of all this good service was that we were knackered by noon!
I am a member of WH and look at the site about 10 times a day! I’m just waiting for my work to pull me up for it. It is great resource and despite the recent moaning will have put a lot of people on to the Gorm. There are some users who are very partisan towards certain ski areas and like to rubbish the Gorm almost as a way of supporting their preferred area. Others have been embittered by bad experiences on busy days. However, my impression is that most users are decent people with a genuine interest in the health of Scottish snowsports.
Many of the points made through WH are valid and should not simply be dismissed as moaning. For example, there clearly is an issue with midstation uplift when the conditions are good, especially if the train or M1 fail as has happened this season more than once. I’m sure Colin is acutely aware of this and has his own views.
There is a sensible discussion to be had about issues like this and the users of the Gorm as stakeholders in the business have a legitimate interest in knowing what CML are thinking and planning.
Got to say though, the queues today were fine. We stayed up top half until after lunch and never queued once - straight on every time. After lunch we used the train as the legs were half dead and we never waited more than 10 minutes.
There were a huge number of punters from south of the border today which is a good sign.
Cheers
Graeme
February 20th, 2010 at 8:35 am
Hi david, i wont post your links till after the races if you dont mind, dont want to tempt fate or put off any mums of the racers
Cheers
Colin
February 20th, 2010 at 8:59 am
hi no probs - just realised that I never listened to them so glad you held then back. no problems if you dont post - thought you boys might appreciate them
February 20th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Hi Colin
I wanted to post one paragraph of the Forestry Commission Consultation Document. This part is a very significant observation, in view of conditions this winter. Some people are looking at the longer term survival of Scottish Skiing.
Keep options open/ review options
48. Local community organisations and a few individuals made the points that a continuing reduction in snow levels was by no means certain, and that maintaining the wider ski area was important as some areas may prove more suitable in future than others. There was concern that the removal of infrastructure was premature and also that it may be difficult [presumably from a regulatory perspective] to re-introduce uplift to an area once it had been removed. Cairngorm Mountain Limited suggested that the programme should only take place as part of a wider study updating planning guidance for skiing (nationally, or for the Cairngorms).
I would also support your view that replacing the Ciste chairs with new is a much better option than spending good money on old. What about putting the Zip Wire in the Ciste, along with a Mountain bike track down the M2 and Aonach Bowl for summer?
Rodders
February 20th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Hi Roddie
Aye whats the point in tarting up 30 or 40 yr old lifts, go for gold i say, we are looking at and have ideas at lots of things at the moment and i will keep you posted.
anyway back to today, not Grouse mountain more like Ptarmigan mountain a world class ski resort with thousands of people probably gettin a wee bit sunburnt. Kb1 got right down the ciste to the carpark via the burn line. The Ptarmigan jumps are looking braw. The GS on the White Lady is awesome. i got slagged before for saying it but some people just dont have a sense of humour. Cairngorm Mountain… Probably the Best ski Resort in the World
Later
Colin
February 21st, 2010 at 1:53 am
Colin
Firsty well done on getting the mountain “tarted up” to look like a European resort. The nursery areas all over the carpark tow area are great and the terrain parks superb. Lots of smiling faces at the tows, even the poor guy who had to keep kicking the ridge poma because the automatic start pole had come off. A few questions and suggestions:
It would be good to mark Gully 1 and 2 on the east wall with signs. We were on them most of today and although I knew where they were I was not many other people did. Lots of piste maps out and scratching of heads. I know the whole of the East wall is pretty much skiable but it would help those new to the area when they are checking their maps if these were marked accordingly. Also these pistes are marked as closed on the website, how come?
Can you tell me why the race started at the top station today? We came off the WW Poma and could not get over to the traverse without walking round the top station. If they started 100m downhill they would not have blocked access, they could always have extended the finish line further down the White Lady. The only reason I could think of was to extend the hospitality of the Ptarmagin to the parent spectators.
Is the WW Poma running at full speed? It doesn’t seem to be going much faster than the Ciste T-bar. I am sure it used to be the fastest Poma on the mountain.
Is there any possibility of having bins at bottom and top of each tow? Quite often I see litter lying around on the piste, I am sure this is because there are no bins.
Had a great run down Loagh Mor today, what are the chances of sending a machine into t-Sneachda from the top of the old Fiaciall T-bar so you can pop out at the ridge poma? It’s sometimes quite hard to keep speed up to get out of there in the deep stuff.
Good to see the ambassadors enforcing the 2:1 ratio today on the M1, keep up the good work. Don’t listen to all the negative comments you hear on other websites, these kind of people probably read the Highland News.
Andy
Season ticket holder pretty much since 1984
February 21st, 2010 at 8:02 am
hi Andy, thanks for your comments and suggestions and glad you had a good time yesterday. We have got a sign for the gullies but quite honestly have not had much time to get it out, will get it out soon, also we have used every marker pole we have due the amount of terrain that we now have, there are more on order coming soon and we will trail mark the gullies.
Yes the race started there for convenience and for more of an event for the spectators. It is along time since we have had an official GS on the White Lady in such epic conditions and i hope people were not inconvenienced too much.
Yes the WW Poma is running full speed.
We used to have bins around outside but it was decided to stop that as the wind and wild life scattered the litter accross the mountain, people can always hand any litter in to the lifties to put in the hut bins but we would encourage people to be responsible and take litter home with them or use the bins inside the buildings.
I.ll look in to pisting over there and let you know how we get on
Cheers
Colin
February 21st, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Hi Colin,
Was up yesterday, what an amazing day, we found the Laogh Mor and had great last run down it, probably best snow of the day was on it, in fact better than the Ciste Gully. Wish we had done it earlier, didn’t come in as thought you might be a wee bit busy! It was busy yesterday, but we never had much waiting, just once on the M1, but knew it was going to be like that, so was “mentally prepared”, but the Ambassadors did a great job, and we got through it quickly. It would be interesting to know what numbers were up. I’ve lost my new ski buddy, my older kid loves all the jumps and rollers and that’s all he wants to do now!
Thanks to all the team.
February 21st, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Wow! Coire Laogh Beag tracked up - that’s got to be pretty damn rare! Nice work in Laogh Mor with the Pisting, hope it will help it last a bit longer too, lots of nice unpisted snow, but late in the day the legs quite like a groomed cruise down! The width the Ptarmigan Bowl is groomed to is mind boggling, KB1 must be on serious overtime?
Press and Journal reported yesterday that you’d past 66,000 skier days, did the 70,000 mark get breached this weekend?
Alan
PS I hope the snow gun doesn’t have to go back after this season!!
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:21 am
Thanks Al, not quite sure on no.s, cant be far off, need all the money for KB,s overtime and fuel. Got our eyes on sneachda but need to take advice, might open a can of worms.
Cheers
Colin
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:50 am
Hi Colin
Great job by all thius season, wow great to be debating challenges of lots of snow for a change! Great blog.
I don’t get to Cairngorm that often but hope to get up mid-week this week or next. Two questions:
(1) Is there a \Guiding Service\? - I remember the Hilton Ambassadors, are they still around. With all the new snow and runs open that I’ve not been down before, it would be great to go across the hill with a group led by someone who knows the mountain. Wouldn’t mid paying something for such a service to be honest (if you are looking for new ideas)
(2) See this is \schools week\ (is it just this week or next as well?). Great to see the mountain getting used by all .. however does this mean a week of busy tows etc? (and would I be better planning a visit for next week?)
Stephen S
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:03 am
Hi Stephen
It is the start of the local schools programme for four weeks and i dont think it should affect queuing too much as most will be novice standard using the train or top lifts. However due to the great season we are busier midweek than usual. If you email info@cairngormmountain.org they should tell you if Ambassadors are on duty and they show people round the mountain. You can always check with G2 Outdoor if you were looking for private guiding. Now there is an idea, private “Dawn Patrol” tours, how much would people pay to get a “Gorm Tour” before we open to the public? Would have to be for advanced riders though and over 14 yrs
Cheers
Colin
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:43 am
Come on Colin, whats the excuse for Sundays breakdowns. I was having a fantastic day until I encountered a 2 hour return to the top from the Ciste car park due to the Train and Fiacaill poma being off!! Obviously the weather and snow conditions can’t be blamed this time
Uplift options are terribly limited when this happens and shows up the folly of placing all ones eggs in the funicular basket.
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Thanks Colin, good tips.
Wow a dawn patrol. Would be pretty unique I guess. Glencoe does a discovery which is £5 which I think is good value. For a dawn patrol, getting onto the slopes before the queues, and seeing the sun come up (assuming you get a good day) would be pretty awesome, esp on days when the snow had just fallen, seeing the mountain untainted, wow sounds great! £10 easily IMHO - but that’s just me.
The challenge - if you are driving from the central belt like me - would be the real early start to get to the mountain for I guess 7am?
But definitely a great idea IMHO - what do others think?
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Wayne, Glad you had a fantastic day.
Don,t need an excuse.When you are dealing with mechanics it is a fact of life that things fail from time to time.
A sensor came off the train due to some threaded bolts shearing, looked like internal corrosion. The engineers fitted a spare did a test run and the train was back up and running, good job well done. We also kept the lifts running for an extra hour on Sunday.
A Patroller noticed a grinding noise off the return wheel of the Ridge stopped it and called the engineers, turns out the bearing on the return wheel is on the way out. All these bearings are checked and inspected/sent for refurbishment every year. The lifts have been running full tilt since the start of the season and it is unrealistic not too expect breakdowns occasionally, hopefully it will be up and running very soon and you are back up enjoying the fantastic conditions.
Cheers
Colin
February 22nd, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Would defo be interested in a dawn guided tour, getting up the hill before dawn for the sun coming up would be excellent and then getting some fresh lines down the hill first things would be nice before all the punters arrived.
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Maybe a dusk guided tour would accommodate those travelling and cant make the early start. From Colins earlier update sounds like sunset looking down at Loch Morlich is hard to beat. What chance of getting KB1 pisitng down to the Woodshed? To finish the day of with a wee dram or whatever is to your taste!!
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Col,
Coming up with the nippers this weekend weather permitting, what’s the score with the sledge park do you think it will be open on Saturday / Sunday??
Thanks,
Simon
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:22 am
Yes Simon, weather permitting it is open every day, Stuff the housework i,m off touring, -18 outside the house,Lurchers here i come
Cheers
Colin
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Hello there
I’ve just got back from a weekend boarding on Cairngorm and had the best ride I’ve ever had over terrain i’ve never seen white before. I’d like to say a big thanks to all involved in getting the mountain in such good shape and i hope that the success you’ve had this year will be ploughed into future development to keep the Hill going. There was a funicular problem on Sunday but as we were at the top and there was a member of staff warning us of the temporary problem we were able to stay on the west side of the mountain. Skiing to the lower car park around the east wall was great and comparable to runs in Colorado. I hope you have a great rest of season and I look forward to visiting again, i just hope the snow is looking forward to coming back again too!
Matt
February 24th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Hi Colin
Magic day on the mountain on Monday - perfect conditions, lovely snow, no queues. I usually ski Glenshee cause its much quicker from Stirling, but I could well now be a Cairngorm Convert - The terrain now available is outstanding.
Regarding the great Ciste/WW Chair debate, I’m in the ‘new lift’ camp rather than trying to revamp the existing ancient kit. Some kind of quad chair to the Ptarmigan with a half-way ramp sited such that its poss to get down the Day Lodge Piste, or ski down to the WWP rather than following the existing line. The lower section would need to be capable of downloading also I guess - maybe 2 lifts would be best, with a detachable chair at least on the lower section. Guess it all comes down to cash, but if anything goes in, its got to be useful in leaner times too!
In the mean time, best we can all do is just keep paying/skiing! Regarding the tailing off of customers late-season, maybe a decent size advert with pics in the likes of the Metro (read by a heck of alot of train/bus commuters in the central belt) on a Wednesday/Thursday would be worth a punt (not Fri as there’s less people on the trains due to work-from-homers like me!).
Some pics from Mon: http://www.veletron.com/php/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=16149 –> if any of them are any good to you, email me and i’ll send the full res version.
Nigel
February 24th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Hi Nigel,
Your photos are billiant. Was up yesterday, and only took a few myself, as didn’t have much time, but got these now. Cheers.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Hi Colin,
About time you started a new blog, this ones getting massive :-).
My view on the Ciste uplift is that though a new chair would be ideal that is never going to happen fast even if the cash could be obtained to fund it. So I’d like to see the WW chair and the board walk refurbished for next season if at all possible. Why the WW Chair? Because i’ve been up in poor seasons when the WW poma was unable to run due to an incomplete uptrack, yet the gulley was skiable to the board walks (I then skiined/walked out). The WW chair would also improve the skiing expereince of the whole Ciste Gulley area.
The next area for lift improvements would be to improve midstation uplift on the Cas side, either double up the M1 with a 2nd hand poma, or a 2nd hand chair approximately following the line of the Lady Tow. The latter could perhaps be combined with limited snowmaking on the zig zags down to the base of the chair in winter and a downhill mountain bike run via the traverse 105/cas and zig zags in summer with optional timber built features that you see in the european resorts. Guess some of the environmentalists might not like the later idea, but the route is basically a landrover track in the summer.
Must get back over to Cairngorm soon, but my leg may need a bit of rest after little accident in Val Thoren last week.
Cheers
Dave
February 24th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Looks like the next blog post could be the Big Dig part 3 if the weather comes off!
February 24th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Looks like you guys have some serious snowfall right now. I watch snow-forecast.com a lot and it consistently underestimates for Cairngorm. Even that site is saying you’re looking at 60cm over these two days. I’d say, based on past experience, you could well be getting a metre of the white stuff - here’s hoping!
Of course there’s the ferocious Highland Wind to contend with so I expect you’ll have another MegaDig before it’s accessible but good luck to you. My trip up at New Year was one of the best days’ boarding I’ve had and I’ve spent months on a board all over. And…that was before half the present snow even got there. If this continues you’ll be running those lifts into June!
Good luck with what’s inevitably going to be involved over the coming days. Hope it goes well…
Question - do you record accumulated snowfall for the season to date? If so, what is it? You must have had several metres by now? I know the wind is the factor in Scotland that hurts uplift and cover, but I’m curious as to how the snowfall to date compares with foreign resorts that advertise such stats and figures?
February 24th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Aye looks like more digging tomorrow if we get up the road that is, i,m looking out the window at Rothiemurchus and there is a good 8″ on the car at the moment, i think even the Mighty Volvo might struggle tomorrow and i,ve got new snow tyres on, should be good crack though.
I,ve been thinking on snow depths lately and might start putting it on the main page, there is about a metre on the lower mountain and anywhere between 2M and 10M on the upper mountain,might get an avalanche probe and do a check on the non windblown stuff.
You know why this snow is coming… we wired up the heavy duty sockets for the snow cannon at the pumping station this week!!
Dave whathappened to your leg? nothing serious i hope.
Ok new blog when this one gets to 300.
Off to wax and sharpen me shovel.
Cheers
Colin
ps did anyone see the stv news last night,awesome footage of the hill.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
The STV news report can be viewed at:
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/highlands-islands/159415-cairngorm-reports-best-ski-season-in-20-years/
Does that mean with the past 3 days the 80,000 mark has been broken?
Alan
February 24th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Missed it on telly, but had a look on the web site - also found the clip on bbc news - film star in the making?
For those that missed it
bbc news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8450560.stm - need to let the advert run before it plays
stv
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/highlands-islands/159415-cairngorm-reports-best-ski-season-in-20-years/
Good luck with the digging.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:45 am
OOh ER 65cm on top of the volvo going to try and get to Glenmore,can just about see woofies snout over at his wee tree.
Cheers
Colin
February 25th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Hi Colin
Lost an edge on La Grand Rosiere black, which was a little icier than I thought. Preceded down the piste in a cloud of snow for a fair distance, feet below me and edges biting for most of it. At some point my boot popped out of the 7TM binding instead of the binding releasing - so the ski was still attached by the heel strap. It then clacked me accros the leg at some point, just below the knee. I skied on for the rest of the week, but a bruise developed from ankle to just above the knee and there was a lot of general swelling of the leg after each days skiing which reduced overnight. I’m now left with a nasty lump on the leg just around the impact point. I’ve got almost a full range of movement, but its probably sensible to rest it. I’ll probably end up doing some easy xc. Though you never know, blue sky no wind and deep pwder might just tempt me :-). There was more snow depth at Cairngorm than at Val Thoren when we were there.
Hope the next round of digging goes well. We’ve mainly had rain in Aberdeen today, sleet yesterday, but you don’t have to go far in land before the rain is turning to sleet and snow. Amazing winter though.
Dave
February 25th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Nae luck Dave, had a blow out myself last week, last zig no less, both skis off, sunnys off, winded by my radio, bruise from calf to thigh, do you think we are gettin too old for this s..t. Anyway hope to see you soon. Cant access the website to update from home, maybe it is crashed from the no. of hits today, there were 3 film crews at the gates as we pulled out at 11.00am.
Starting a new blog now as i,m still on pay.
Cheers
Colin