The funicular may have been non-operational and much of the other uplift removed but provision for snowsports at Cairn Gorm this winter was much worse than it should have been given the amount of snow making equipment Highlands and Islands Enterprise had bought for its subsidiary Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd (CMSL). The screenshots in this post, courtesy of CMSL, tell the story.
(A) 16/12/2023
Note the snow level just above the SSC race hut top right of picture, then in (B) & (C), 14 and 15 days later……..
(B) 30/11/2023
(C) 01/12/2023
The difference in snow cover from 12.35hrs on 30/11/23, (photo B), to 15.40hrs on 01/12 23, (photo C), is significant and illustrates just how effective the snow cannon are when they are operating. There are at least four cannon working, two in the foreground, one at the bottom of the poma and in the middle distance by the Day Lodge the snow cloud can be seen from a fourth.
Compare those two photos to the next, photo (D) on 09/12/23 and three months later, photo (E) on 09/03/24.
(D) 09/12/2023
(E) 09/03/24
What is immediately obvious is that where natural snow, even above the snow cannon, has thawed and disappeared due to rain, warmer temperatures and wind, snow produced by the three snow cannon at the bottom and top of the Sunkid tow has survived.
The only other place where snow has lasted is on the beginner slope. Snow made by the factory however has to be regularly topped up because being lower down the mountain it is quite often BELOW the natural snow level. But even that snow has been disappearing because the factory is not being fully utilised. The next screenshot fully illustrates the folly of that decision.
(F) 27/03/24 (10.12am)
The dark patches on the upper half of the beginner slope are obviously where the Mountain Bike trails had been covered but are now becoming exposed. The next screenshot, is the weather two hours later
and four hours later the dark patches have almost disappeared.
(G) 27/03/24 (14.22)
With the bank holiday weekend / Easter holidays starting on Friday, 29/03/2024, two days of possible snow making had been wasted. The final screenshots are from yesterday
(H) 07/04/2024 (12.40)
Even through the water drops on the webcam it is obvious that the upper half of the beginner area is gone and the lower half is not much better.
(I) 07/04/24
While the M1 poma (lift to right of funicular) could still allow access to the top of the mountain, with the Cas in its current state, how do you get back down?
(J) 07/04/24
Discussion
At the beginning of August 2019 CMSL submitted a planning application to the CNPA for the creation of this beginner slope which was covered in the following and other posts (see here). A number of valid objections were lodged with the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) about the application but unfortunately these were over-ruled. Since then an application was made to move the snow factory 300m uphill from its current position which again was approved by the CNPA but hasn’t happened
The screenshots above help prove that providing a beginner area on the lowest part of the mountain was and will be a hugely expensive and environmental mistake. The snowline is generally rising higher and higher every year due to global warming, a situation which is unlikely to change any time soon. Photos (B) – (E) show exactly how a beginner slope further up the hill could hold snow, a mix of artificial and/or real, for most of the season. There is the added advantage that there is already underused uplift in place and the Shieling could be rebuilt with ski school facilities and restaurant. This area was, until the arrival of the funicular, used as the beginner area and trainer tow.
The drawback is that there is currently no means of getting customers, either beginners or better qualified, from the car park to the new beginner zone.
In the early 1960’s there were two options to access the Shieling:-
(1) You walked up the mountain, a lot easier in the leather boots we wore back then, or,
(2) You used the bus!
Notice how inconspicuous the chairlift pylons (above) are compared to the funicular piers in the next shot.
With climate change it’s not just a strenuous walk up the hill to reach the M1 Poma, Cas tow or Shieling, but an arduous return journey after a long day on the hill.
Today’s customers are not so willing to make that walk. There is therefore a necessity to build suitable uplift as a matter of urgency, without which the skier numbers will continue to decline, maybe to the point where Cairn Gorm as a ski area ceases to exist.
I’ve often wondered why Ben Macdui wasn’t developed rather than Cairngorm. That plateau seems to retain snow far better than Cairngorm which seems to be more exposed to changes in the weather. And would make a better nursery area. Obviously there were probably insurmountable logistics involved when decisions were made decades ago and, perhaps, with environmental concerns far higher up the agenda that ship has sailed?
I can’t make up my mind if you’re being funny or not.
The development at Cairngorm has been a complete and utter disaster ever since the notion of the funicular started to gain traction. Initial proposals for a much more practical, efficient, less damaging to the environment, and much less costly upgrades of the uplift system were ditched in place of this clumsy monstrosity. Inept decision making and quite frankly, something verging on corrupt mismanagement has resulted in this unmitigated disaster since the turn of the millennium.
Cairngorm was once the jewel in the crown of Scottish skiing and still has the potential to become so in the future but not until someone who really cares about skiing can take the lead in redevelopment. A good start would be to scrap the funicular, to be replaced with high speed quad chairlift systems on both the Cas/White Lady and Ciste sides of the hill. Good, snow-sure seasons will return, so it would be encouraging to see such development in time for the inevitable shift back to colder winters.
You guys should contact specialist in making ski related things work rather than using local knowledge. contact Thesnowcompany.fr…
How about Ben Wyvis?
Or perhaps some company could invest in a large dry slope in Inverness, possibly Torvean quarry area.
All down to money but more and more people are taking up the sport.
As a boy we skied gairngorm in the 60s and 70s till the heavy queues made skiing the hill very frustrating..I then spent most of the subsequent decades skiing abroad but still managed to keep enthusiasm for Scottish skiing. Last year I had a couple of short holidays skiing and enjoyed the mountain. However I was shocked at the ciste not been open where the good snow was.the white lady decimated from its original wide run and the funicular taking up most of the old run..I get climate change but this resort has been badly planned and managed over the years and getting close to a white or non white elephant. Take glencoe hill..minimal new ski infrastructure but retains big crowds and doesn’t look like an eyesore.its a tricky business running skiing in Scotland but gairngorm used to be the jewel of it all now I think it needs a drastic rethink or perhaps a private ownership?
Ken Rodgie. (Still skiing)..
Cairngorm not gairngorm
I noticed in your article that there wasn’t any reference to the fact that January, February and March have been some of hottest and wettest months on record. Artificial snow can only be made around zero degrees. So there would have been only very limited periods that snow could be made.
The whole point is that no matter what the weather conditions were in those months, snow made using the cannons on 30/11/2023 was still there on 09/03/2024. If their use had continued all the way through this period when temperatures were low enough it would have made a vast improvement to the opportunities for snow sports enthusiasts.
Like Ken above I enjoyed sking at the Scottish ski resorts. The weather was fickle and the snow unreliable but we kept going.
Even then the layout of runs and tows were not well thought out especially at Cairngorm. It always seemed underfunded with a minimal customer experience.
My friends in I took off to the better organised and welcoming European resorts and we had a ball!
With global warming and lack of investment I dispair for the future of Scottish sking.
It seems unlikely that there would be private buyers given the low footfall in recent years.
The funicular is an environmental disaster and has insufficient uplift capacity.
It must be removed and the White Lady reinstated.
Required Lifts:
Gondola from Day Lodge to the top station on a tri-cable.
Chairlift with drop-down windscreen from Day Lodge to top of Cas or wherever the new beginner slope is to be.
Replace White Lady surface lift with a Poma. Or install a 6 man chairlift.
Proper snowmaking for all slopes.
Perhaps a recycled chairlift (like Snowy Owl, Cairnwell and Rannoch Chairs) needs to be installed to replace the Car Park Chair/Tow allowing snowless access to the Shieling area.
Maybe the pioneers knew that the mid-mountain was the most natural snowline and anything lower was a bonus.
Hindsight shows that getting rid of the Ciste chairs was a disaster.
The mountain and it’s staff’s attitude has went down steeply over the past 5 years.
This is my first winter not sliding in Scotland in 27years due to conditions and lack of uplift.
Overpriced mountains in Scotland encourage people to go abroad for better deal, better snow and better attitudes.
Shame on all the Scottish ski hills that pirate poor people’s money and get angry at paying customers when they rightly justify their money back for poor service.
The powers that be at the time, went for the impractical, ugly, invasive funicular, turning down the RSPB’s brilliant idea for a cable car all the way up from Glenmore.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Can anyone explain why a funicular was actually chosen…? they are very rare across the skiing world for a very good reason and seems to be besort with problems from the outset…. ( I grew up skiing in Scotland but have been skiing in Europe and North America for the last 25 years)
HIE wanted something that no one else had in Scotland. They had to be different. Well they certainly are now. A train that doesn’t run. Come back Dr. Beeching we need you.
Maybe it was a Simpsons “monorail” episode
I honestly think it’s time to admit that alpine skiing at Cairngorm has had its day. I think the plateau is a great venue for ski touring in winter when there are no ground nesting birds, which could be supported by uplift ( the funicular is there already. The constant teething problems need to be sorted and the responsible agencies held to task for their failures) . In summer, we need to embrace the potential that is mountain biking. Again, supported by uplift ( ie The Fuicular). Dedicated trails that will avoid the sensitive areas. Lots of centres in our Scandi countries have embraced this, so I think it’s time to accept that Scotland’s weather is too fickle for alpine skiing. Maybe have a rethink when the next period of global cooling occurs.
Why on earth is the funicular out of service??
Used it last year, at least could stretch to an afternoon’s late season ski ing on the Ptarmigan bowl.
Haven’t gone up this year with the uphill walk at the start, “30 mins strenuous walk”
Well that is why you have funiculars and chairlifts
The answer is because its unsafe to use
Afraid I am old enough to remember teaching novice skiers on the Shelling tow run. I often look at the web cam and wonder why the T40 snow guns are placed well above the tow on steep ground. They would be better employed lower down to make a run. Beginners could progress from the magic carpets to the Sheiling. Or better, reposition the snow factory higher up.
I can only remember the T40s providing useful cover when natural snow is worn by skiers braking on the steep slope just below the Cas.
Yes. It may involve a walk up to the base of the lift but it only takes about 5-6 minutes from the Day Lodge.