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If you can Ski Scotland, you can ski anywhere !
The Scottish highlands have one of the harshest mountain climates in Europe, in fact the Cairngorms are officially designated as a sub-arctic plateau. This makes skiing in Scotland a somewhat unusual and unpredictable experience. The Scottish mountains certainly get a lot of snow, unfortunately because of the prevailing maritime climate and the associated large fluctuations in temperature, large accumulations of the type seen in the Alps are far less common. Persistently strong winds will also tend to blow away the snow from exposed ridges, making the snow cover somewhat inconsistent, especially at lower altitudes.
However, in spite of this a long established ski industry has grown up in the highlands, with skiing recorded in the area of Glencoe from the 1930's onwards, although the first lift was not installed until 1959. There are now five proper ski centres in the central Scottish highlands, with around 70 lifts between them. Because of the prevailing weather, the majority of these lifts are surface lifts, though there are also a small number of chair lifts, a gondola at Nevis and Cairngorms Funicular. Scottish skiing can be a very rewarding experience if you're patient and come properly prepared.
Day light hours during the early part of the season (December/January) are very short, with lifts closing at 3.30pm at this time of year. You may also find that the sun doesn't get above the level of the mountains. You'll see that most of my January pictures are very dark.
Ski Centres
Information
- Ski Scotland. Official web site, includes live snow reports, resort info
- Winterhighland The original and best Scottish skiing website.
Conditions
Scottish snow conditions tend to be quite icy, so make sure you have sharp edges. Also, Scotland is cold, very cold. This is mainly due to the high wind chill factor, with average wind speeds at about 35mph, wind chill is considerably higher than in Alpine resorts. So wrap up warm ! Although you do get some very nice sunny days, its more likely to be cloudy and overcast, so goggles will be of more use than sun glasses.
;)