Scotland Opens for Skiing
13th December 2021 | Rod Frazer
Last modified on December 20th, 2021
Scotland’s ski areas have begun firing up their lifts at the start of the winter season. There’s some good skiing and snowboarding to be had. PlanetSKI has been on the slopes.
There have been plenty of opportunities for ski tourers in Scotland over the last few weeks thanks to a prolonged spell of relatively cold weather.
There was, however, no need to earn your turns this past weekend.
Four out of five of the Scottish ski areas opened for weekend skiing and snowboarding.
We headed over to The Lecht on Sunday where about half of the runs were open.
The Lecht, Scotland, December 2021 – photo © Rod Frazer
The Lecht, Scotland, December 2021 – photo © Rod Frazer
Conditions were pretty good considering the weather has just begun to warm up with spring snow conditions softening up as the day progressed.
There was plenty of young freestyle talent on display, making the most of the Airbag and the calm weather.
The Lecht, Scotland, December 2021 – photo © Rod Frazer
It was surprisingly quiet for the weekend; we practically had the place to ourselves.
Glenshee also had a few runs open.
Cairngorm had a limited offering with one tow operating.
Not to be outdone in the West, Glencoe also opened some of its lower runs.
There has been a steady build-up of snow across the Highlands recently.
Hopefully the milder weather arriving this week won’t last too long.
Fingers crossed!
The Lecht, Scotland, December 2021 – photo © Rod Frazer
Meanwhile, Cairngorm’s landowner, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, says work has now stopped on the funicular for the winter.
The mountain railway has been closed since autumn 2018 following the discovery of structural problems.
The contractors, Balfour Beatty, have been on site since April, strengthening the 1.8km viaduct that supports the funicular.
Work will re-start in April 2022 with the aim of completing it in the autumn.
HIE says it’s one of the UK’s most challenging civil engineering projects.
“During the winter, we’ll continue to be busy behind the scenes so that when work resumes on site next spring, we can move at pace to carry out the remainder of the project and get the funicular back up and running again,” said James Palmer, HIE’s Cairngorm project manager.
“In the meantime, we wish our colleagues and all visitors to Cairngorm Mountain a very active and happy winter season for snowsports.”
Work on the Cairngorm funicular structure in 2021 – photo © Balfour Beatty
Dianne and Rod Frazer have built a selection of superb self catered properties. Plan your ideal getaway in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park, where stags roar! www.wherestagsroar.co.uk Winner of the Highlands & Islands Tourism Awards ‘Best Self Catered Accommodation’ Award 2018.
