The winter season was 2c above normal for every month and people need to grasp the enormity of that. Two whole degrees is a huge margin in monthly averages.
This spring is now the warmest on record in Scotland [
www.bbc.co.uk] there has been 6 consecutive months of ridiculously above average temperatures.
Warmer, wetter and much wilder winters is exactly that which were projected to become more common as evermore hot gases smother our atmosphere. So even when it does snow, relentless storms will shutdown operations and combined with the ephemeral transient snow cover usher in commercial ruin for snow dependent businesses.
HIE has a duty to protect the public purse and thus is absolutely right to have appointed an operator inline with it's objectives. HIE can not permit new ski infrastructure as the taxpayer would be forced to pay to remove it when the end inevitably comes. Instead life extension work on the core lifts will be undertaken so they can last as far into the franchise as they are required and that will unlikely to be beyond 2020 for much of it. Natural Retreats are commercial profit driven company and the fact they looked at the business and only plan non snowsports investment tells you all you need to now.
[
www.strathspey-herald.co.uk]
"There are no firm plans at present to improve the west wall ski tow". No shit sherlock, its wholly unviable to maintain a lift that operates a handful of days a season yet the armchair ski area managers want to spend £1m of capital and the yearly maintenance on a dangerously antiquated lift to serve exactly the same never open terrain as the West Wall tow!