PeterS Wrote:
Jabuzzard your strategy of replacing tows with chairlifts will not work in Scotlands climate. It would be a very expensive way to trade resilience for fashion and (dubious) comfort.
The skiing public may not want to sit around waiting for the perfect day which in a windy year may never arrive, particularly if they have to pay a lot more for it and it is going to be crowded when they get there.
The very carefully considered approach of Glencoe and Glenshee is building loyalty from a new generation. Just read their Facebook comments.
All I have said is that the traditional approach in Scotland has been surface lifts, and that this approach is now out of line with the expectations of the majority of the skiing public that have become accustomed to sit down lifts on the continent. In light of this change of customer expectations I believe that it would be a mistake to just replace the existing and often past it surface lifts with more surface lifts.
I also don't believe for one minute that all the surface lifts installed in the past where done so because of considerations of wind. Thirty years ago the mix of surface and sit down lifts in Scotland was similar to that on the continent. In interval the lift mix on the continent has changed radically, while that in Scotland has remained pretty much the same. Also over that time the cost of a holiday on the continent has dropped in real terms and the number of "skier" days has also dropped. I know plenty of people who could but don't ski in Scotland because it is all surface lifts. I can only see this percentage growing and worry that this will have a long term detrimental impact on the viability of Scottish skiing.
I repeat I don't care either way, but I do understand that I am not representative of the average skier.