By Val Hamilton
Snow still lies deep and extensive on the slopes of the Cairngorm ski area, topped up by fresh falls this week. Concerted efforts by the pisting staff have seen it manoeuvred into ribbons running all the way down to car park level.
This not only allows the marketing of “top to bottom” skiing even after earlier thaws, but also provides access to the upper slopes via the drag lifts, easing pressure on the funicular railway – which is, for many, the default means of ascent.
It has been another good season, and Colin Matthew – operations manager with Cairngorm Mountain Ltd (CML) – comments on YouTube that they are “well up on budgeted skier days”.
As well as avoiding the queues, skiers who use the tows are not required to remain in the ski area: the restrictions on access to the Cairngorm plateau apply only to those who use the funicular. The snag was that, until last week, the only way to use the other lifts, unless you had a season ticket, was to pay the full £30.80 for a day pass. An hour or so spent plodding uphill with skins on your skis suddenly becomes a more attractive option in such circumstances.
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CML have now, however, introduced a “Ski Mountaineering Ticket”. This costs £10, and allows the use of two surface lifts up to the Ptarmigan restaurant level at just below 1,100 metres. The cost is virtually the same as a return funicular journey (£9.75) and a little cheaper than the Aonach Mor gondola (£11). A single ride on the Cairnwell chairlift at Glenshee remains a bargain at £4. The new Cairngorm ticket restores the opportunities for ski-tourers to pre-funicular times, when a cheap, single chairlift ticket was available. There is a choice of tows, but using them does require some skill – fair enough, as a good level of skiing ability is a prerequisite for off-piste touring. From the base station area, the Car Park T-bar is easy to access but has an unnerving descent section, something skiers who spend their holidays in the Alps may never have come across. It trundles you fairly gently up to a point that is – annoyingly – about 25 vertical metres of side-stepping below the M1 poma, located at the mid-station level. The other lift from the car park area, the Fiacaill Ridge poma, requires an uphill walk to reach it and – because it is more exposed – is often icy. But it does allow you to then ski down to the M1 poma. This in turn is notorious for its fierce “kick” as the tension is taken in, allowing you little time to recover before being launched up the hill almost as quickly as the funicular. The benefits of mechanised uplift are greatest at the beginning of the season, when days are shorter. But given the vast extent of snow cover again this year, the new special ticket is likely to be popular. Last weekend saw dozens of skiers enjoying the wide expanse of whiteness stretching over to Ben Macdui and beyond, under blue skies and skin-searing sun on a wind-free day. Admittedly the snow was rock-hard in places, but it was one of those great-to-be-alive days with enough concentration required to clear the mind of mundane matters. Few Scottish skiers would have counted on two consecutive good winters – but, for tourers, they have been quite different in nature. Although there was low-lying snow in November and December 2010, the 2011 level has been much higher than early in 2010, meaning fewer days with “skis on at the road”, or even at the door. There has been no repeat of the conditions which allowed Roger and Finlay Wild to achieve a 155km Scottish Haute Route over seven days in mid-March 2010, travelling from Ben Nevis to Ben Avon via 16 other peaks. Their account in February’s Scottish Mountaineer is well worth reading. In January and February 2010, most of my own skiing was done from the house, at 250 metres. In 2011, by contrast, it has all been piste-skiing at Cairngorm. The quality of the snow has been different too, with the thaw-freeze cycle this year leading to widespread “boiler-plate” snow off-piste. Even the best skiers tend not to enjoy being rattled round in conditions one described as “not just loosening your fillings but your teeth as well”. There is, though, still plenty of time for some great touring days as the weather improves and the daylight lengthens. The Ski Mountaineering Ticket initiative should allow a few more people the chance to experience the snowy Cairngorm plateau on a beautiful day.Donate to us: support independent, intelligent, in-depth Scottish journalism from just 3p a day
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