I have always been sceptical about Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE)’s funicular court cases going ahead because of what further it might reveal about their incompetence. But those court cases (see here) may be the price the Scottish Government has exacted for picking up the cost (c£26m?) of the funicular repairs There was an interesting…
Tag: Cairn Gorm
I was pleased to receive this photo and comment at the weekend from a parkswatch reader who has been following the funicular story for several years and has experience of health and safety on North Sea oil rigs. “I finally made it up the hill to the Cairngorm Ski Area. I think it would be…
My last post (see here), on the facilities available for snowsports enthusiasts parking in Coire na Ciste, failed to highlight the deterioration in bus services to Cairn Gorm, as a couple of readers pointed out afterwards. I hope this post will help make up for that. The current situation In June 2021 Highlands and Islands…
This post has been informed by comments made on my series of six posts on “Will the repairs to the funicular work” and discussion with people with a far greater knowledge of construction and civil engineering than me. When I commented on this picture in my second post on the funicular court cases (see here)…
Yesterday, Highlands and Islands Enterprise announced (see here), earlier than anticipated, that the funicular would start operating on today (26th January) after the Department of Transport had provided authorisation under the Cableway Installation Regulations 2018 for it to re-open. While this should at last provide a reasonably reliable means of access to the upper lifts…
Following Graham Garfoot’s post yesterday on the funicular court cases (see here), a reader who had taken this photo taken from the Ridge Poma in the morning was inspired to annotate it: “the recent thaw really showed up the shortcomings of the funicular”. Brilliant! More such annotated photos from readers, on any aspect of development…
In Part 1 of this post (see here) I suggested there are at least two other major parties who should have been included in Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE)’s funicular court cases if these are intended as serious attempts to recover public money rather than an attempt to deflection attention away from HIE’s own sorry role…
After the funicular on Cairn Gorm broke down and subsequent posts on Parkswatch, there were many calling for a judge lead inquiry into the causes of the failure of the business CairnGorm Mountain Ltd and the funicular railway. HIE have continually resisted this but are currently, and have for some time, themselves been taking legal…
Cairn Gorm, alone amongst the five main outdoor snowsports areas in Scotland doesn’t have any chairlifts. Following on from Graham Garfoot’s post on Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the mismanagement of snow sports at Cairn Gorm (see here), the SE Group report , commissioned at a cost of circa £120k, identified the fact that chairlifts…
In my post about how Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL) have “all the gear, no idea” (see here), I mentioned that as far as I know there is only one person in Scotland with the necessary qualifications to operate a ski resort. I then decided to have a look…
Cairngorm Mountain opened for snowsports on Saturday 17 December 2022 with uplift being provided by the two new magic carpets adjacent to the Daylodge. Ticket sales were rightfully limited to just 150 due the constrained size of the beginner area. This beginner area is served by snow from the Snowfactory which is topped up by…
After Alan Brattey’s expose of how the management at Cairngorm Mountain were failing to take advantage of the cold and snowy conditions (see here), it appears someone kicked ass. The following day, Susan Smith, their Chief Executive and Colin Matthews, their head of operations, appeared on a video (see here) announcing Cairngorm Mountain would open…
What’s going on? In 2018 after the funicular failed and Cairngorm Mountain Ltd ceased trading, Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE) stepped in and set up Cairngorm Mountain [Scotland] Ltd (CMSL) with a share Capital of £100. In an effort to keep the snowsports business going, HIE quickly purchased a TechnoAlpin SnowFactory and eight TechnoAlpin TR8…
I was up in Speyside mid-week and took the opportunity to take a look at the car parks on Cairn Gorm. The weather was terrible, 98 mph gusts apparently on the summit of Cairn Gorm and lashing rain. It was one of those days when car doors can be ripped off their hinges so my…
A large proportion of my campaigning to improve Scotland’s National Parks takes place behind the scenes and doesn’t appear on parkswatch, partly due to the time involved but also because there are limits to what blogging can achieve. Other media is very important which is why I am so appreciative of the Strathy, an excellent…
On the 11th November the Strathy published an interview with Susan Smith, Chief Executive of Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL) (see here) Highland and Island Enterprise’s subsidiary that manages Cairn Gorm. This week they published an excellent response from Alan Brattey, sometime contributor to parkswatch (see above). This post picks up on some of the…
[NB a postscript has been added to the post to take account of response from CNPA planners] In the last couple of weeks parkswatch has been sent several photos of works at Cairngorms by readers. Initially I thought this photo showed construction work on the magic carpet which Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) announced had…
It is more than apparent that HIE will never allow the dysfunctional monstrosity of a funicular, so abhorred by snow sports enthusiasts and environmentalists, to be dismantled, especially after the huge repair bill funded by the Scottish Government, unless something goes so catastrophically wrong that they have no choice. But there is another option, just…
What a fantastic day! Snow, lots of it and in perfect condition, weather fantastic, but the customer service left a lot to be desired, including a train that didn’t start running until after 09.30! In January 2020 I wrote a post outlining a plan for snowsports at Cairn Gorm (see here). Since then some things…
A couple of weeks ago the latest accounts for Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd (CMSL), Highland and Island Enterprise’s wholly owned subsidiary, were published (see here). They are a charade but confirm it is not just the financial liabilities created by the funicular which are the problem. While CMSL describes its principal activity as “the operation…
Well, that might describe staff at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) but certainly not at Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL). So what is the problem at Cairn Gorm? Despite having more money thrown at it than any other ski business in the U.K., e.g. (1) 100% funding for any equipment that they need whereas the…
This post contains the third part of the report that was presented to Ivan McKee, the Minister responsible for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) at the beginning of July (see here for background to the meeting and a note of the discussion). Draft Report in response to the financial crisis facing Cairngorm Part III…
This post contains the second part of the report (see here for first) that was presented to Ivan McKee, the Minister responsible for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) at the beginning of July. Draft Report in response to the financial crisis facing Cairngorm Part II The bigger picture 4) What is needed at Cairn…
Introduction Following my post about the meeting between a concerned group of experts and Ivan McKee, the Scottish Government minister responsible for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) (see here), parkswatch is publishing the report we discussed with him at the start of July over three posts. We presented the report as a draft and stated…
Most of my working life has been as a mechanic in various fields from commercial to private vehicles, so I have a practical and varied knowledge of mechanical engineering. In writing posts for parkswatch, I would hope it is obvious that I haven’t done all the work myself. I have been advised and assisted by…