Vital Statistics

The Area

Glencoe is the oldest ski area in Scotland, with the first lift having been built in 1956 and features some stunning views from the summit of Meall a' Buiridh. The centre features some very good (if limited) intermediate and advanced skiing. Although there are some good beginner runs on the plateau area, beginners are best advised to start elsewhere, if they want to have more choice of confidence building runs, before starting on the more difficult stuff.

Glencoe is publicised as having the longest vertical drop in Scotland. This is certainly true, with marked runs going all the way to the bottom of the access chair. However, the snow cover in Scotland is rarely skiable below 600m contour, so it is extremely rare to be able to ski the full vertical. A more realistic vertical drop is about 400m down to the base of the plateau tow, or the plateau cafe.

Meall a' Buiridh is probably the most 'natural' skiing mountain Scotland, with plenty of natural gullies to make life interesting. It also has rather less of the ever present snow fencing needed to hold the snow in place against the prevailing winds than other areas. Glencoe also possesses Scotlands steepest on piste run, the Flypaper.

Lift System

All access to the skiing at Glencoe is via a long double chair which rises from the car park to the edge of the plateau area. Although the chair is of a modern design, it runs rather slower than you would expect. This partly for the benefit of beginners who have to use the lift to access the nursery areas, but also because people have to come down on the chair as well and because there is no run off area at the bottom of the lift, skis have to be removed for the downward trip. The trip on the chair takes around 15 minutes.

From the top of the access chair, a modern poma button runs across the plateau area and gives access to the main ski area. Alternatively a track runs directly from the access chair to the snack hut, but this is not recommended unless the plateau tow is closed.

The main part of the mountain has 4 lifts, all quite old, especially the Cliffhanger chair lift, which is truly a museum piece and must be one of the oldest operating chair lifts I have ever been on. Unfortunately because of the under developed lift system, Glencoe is very prone to long queues during busy periods. As a result of this, a rather unusual queueing system has evolved. If one queue gets too long, you are expected to form a second queue behind the first queue, this tends to cause a lot of confusion and is also a queue jumpers dream.

A major expansion of the lift system was once planned. A notice in the snack hut on the Plateau area had a map showing a number of proposed new lifts, including a new chair lift across the plateau area and several new drags. However, although these plans were announced and publicised in the Ski Scotland brochure some years ago nothing ever happend.

Location

Glencoe ski area is located on a very isolated stretch of the A82 amongst some of the most dramatic scenery in the UK, roughly 15 miles from Glencoe village. Public transport is infrequent and the ski centre is some distance from the main road, so travel by car is essential.

Gallery

The access chair viewed from the carpark, March 2008.
The plateau and main ski area are hidden from view.

The plateau tow, main ski area ahead and to the right, Jan 2000

Looking down on the plateau from the Spring Run, Jan 2000

The main basin, March 2008

Panoramic view from top of Meall a' Buiridh, Feb 1999 (click image for full size)

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