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ESD1711


Posts: 185
Joined: Nov 2011
Last Visited: 06:17
13th Feb 2019
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 10.14hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
igloo4you Wrote:
ESD1711,

Glencoe average start date would be mid January if you look back over the 60 years, latest start date was 19th Feb.


Thanks Andy, but that doesnt really answer the question I'd asked.

I'm not trying to trip anyone up here or anything - i'm just genuinely interested in what we perceive as early / late starts and why folk get so precious about the suggestion its not been a good start to a year.

As i've said, i'm not really sure why the fact lifts didnt turn till February way back in nineteen fifty / sixty / seventy something are really relevant in the here and now. Consider the various advances in technology over those 60 years. Could some of the historical 'later' starts have been brought forward if we'd had the snow making capabilites and pisting machines etc?

Ignoring that and considering the fact 5 years in the last 10 have had pre Christmas sliding at Glencoe.... That alone to me suggests that its not such a rarity in the here and now. And thats only for one of the resorts, the one which traditionally probably needs the most snow to get going.

Would be nice to get some dates / figures for the other areas too, I daresay someone will have them to hand somewhere.

Perhaps it would be fairer to say 'its been an awful start to the season in comparison to the last decade'.
igloo4you


Posts: 522
Joined: Oct 2009
Last Visited: 16:28
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 10.29hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
ESD1711,

I don't think anyone would argue it would be great if we were all open now with a good snow cover but I do think there has been a trend across the world for people to be looking for good snow conditions earlier and earlier in the season. Yet these same people don't support the industry in the late season when historically certainly at Glencoe we have the best snow and weather. Still plenty of time for a great season and certainly looks like some decent snow in the forecast.
cmorrison


Posts: 1121
Joined: Sep 2007
Last Visited: 10:36
21st Apr 2021
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 11.15hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
ESD1711 Wrote:
Out of interest though - when exactly was the last year that we'd had zero days of lift served snowsports at any of the resorts by 6th January?


That wouldn't include this year given that the Lecht and Nevis Range have both already been open (if only for a day or two).
Hustler


Posts: 760
Joined: Oct 2006
Last Visited: 07:52
19th Aug 2019
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 11.25hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
May become academic very soon- Glenshee has been getting buried for quite a few hours now, certainly over 48. Ok, so far it has all come on the same strong Easterly and the ground underneath isn't all that cold, but it is snow, lots of it and the outlook is for a lot more of it over the next 5 days. A good steady build up like this should be good news for Glencoe too, although less of the weight is getting that far west.
Happy days...
ESD1711


Posts: 185
Joined: Nov 2011
Last Visited: 06:17
13th Feb 2019
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 12.22hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
cmorrison Wrote:
ESD1711 Wrote:
Out of interest though - when exactly was the last year that we'd had zero days of lift served snowsports at any of the resorts by 6th January?


That wouldn't include this year given that the Lecht and Nevis Range have both already been open (if only for a day or two).


Apologies - I must have missed that, hadn't realised either had been open.
Andy


Posts: 1406
Joined: Jan 2003
Last Visited: 08:47
2nd May 2019
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 13.06hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
I've been skiing at Glenshee every year for around 30 years...I usually expect the season to get going there around new year/ early Jan period - it's rare to get much skiing before then. For cairngorm/Lecht i'd normally expect it open around the xmas new year period.
Scotland must be one of the few countries where the skiing opens on almost entirly natural snow - very few of the alpine resorts would have been open before this week if it had not been for snow making.
Personally I prefer spring time when most folk have given up aand the snow is usually the best.
Looking promising for this weekend though!
facelikeanrss


Posts: 36
Joined: Nov 2010
Last Visited: 09:18
11th Feb 2021
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 17.49hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
I agree with the OP that the article was very negative. There is no mention whatsoever that sensible Scottish ski area operators expect to have seasons where there will be no potential for pre-new year opening and therefor economically, isolated early seasons like this should be "easily" absorbed by both the operators and dependent businesses. The angle very much is "this will destroy the economy of the area". The quotes from holiday makers are priceless: real World Weekly News/Daily Mash stuff. Astonishing to think that The National is meant to be a compact broadsheet based on this.

Personally, I started ski-ing in the late 90s in Scotland. As many will recall, the 9 years that followed the fairly decent early season 1998/99 featured several late openings and mid-season closures due to lack of snow. Glenshee had it so bad that I recall the middle valley cafe being constantly shut for a number of consecutive seasons and the Cairnwell chair ran even less frequently than it has in the last 5 years. In the mid 2000s there was an awful lot of talk about Scottish ski-ing being unsustainable due to the deterioration in snowfall/rising temperatures.

The change for the 2007/08 season was remarkable. What followed in 2008/09 was astonishing. Since then, I only recall a single "universally bad" winter since then when a 6 week long thaw ruled out skiing throughout much of February and March (?2011). This good run of winters has really heightened expectations which makes the article all the more disappointing.

Also, it's weird to see Cameron McNeish (??namesake or the real mccoy) getting all upset given the views he expresses regarding the effects on the munros of lift assisted ski-ing in his most famous written work!
sspeirs


Posts: 370
Joined: Mar 2008
Last Visited: 09:59
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Print media bashing Scotland's ski industry
Date Posted: 19.58hrs on Wed 6 Jan 16
facelikeanrss ( ! ) says it well .... IMHO use of the term "devastating affect" in the article opening is an attempt at sensationalising (and poor written English)

"THE lack of snow in Scotland over the festive period has had a devastating affect on ski resorts and local businesses heavily reliant on the white stuff .."

Let's wait until April / May before deciding to use such a term, as only then could it be appropriate is the season is bad.

We've just been spoiled last few seasons - and igloo4you's data above proves that. There was also one season 3 or 4 years back now, I think end 2012, where Glencoe opened mid December, incredibly early, only for a mild spend around new year to wipe out much of the snow leading to another 2 or 3 week wait for enough to build up to allow re-opening.
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