Despite having skied at Cairngorm both downhill and touring for years, I wonder if they really are interested in making a profit out of their winter snowsports?

Here we are, following a large accumulation of snow and:

(i) There are no surface lifts operational apart from the funicular.
(ii) No ski hire, which surely rules out a large number of potential customers
(iii) Also, until the last hour or so, their webcams have not been up to date. For me, staying a 2 hour drive away, these are often the biggest deciding factor in choosing to make the journey.

Contrast their attitude with that of Lecht and Glenshee. or is it just me?!!

It does seem peculiar that a business that is desperate for revenue should be unable to provide any uplift other than the funicular when the first major snowfall (widely predicted at least a week in advance) of the season arrives. It may of course be the case that the weather over the last few days has been so bad that they were unable to get any of the surface lifts ready and couldn't do much in the way of piste work. They will have been concentrating on thre funicular annual maintenance as well. Offering no ski hire can't have been the fault of the weather!
However, the bottom line is that they have chased away some revenue today...who knows, perhaps some of those chased to Glenshee or the Lecht will never return!!..a bad bit of business by CML. I also think that there are some unaswered questions here and personaly chose not to make a round trip of 300 miles for such limited terrain. I dont think that it is just you (MikeH)

Regards

Olderalan

It's quite unbelieveable really, especially considdering the advance warning they had. I think the lecht will be getting my custom when i'm back in the country next weekend... providing the snow holds!

The only way I i'll be at CairnGorm this season will be to attempt a slide down the Ciste -- whos lift policy provides another fine example of CML's current attitude towards snowsports.. I suspect this season may be the last time i'll be able to do it, before it becomes out of bounds and unpatrolled.. Such a shame..



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 13.24hrs Sun 27 Nov 05 by JohnM.

I was pondering my post since friday when, after all the snow had arrived, CML were predicting they'd be unable to offer any snowsports this weekend as the forecast looked poor (that was the jist of the message on their own site)!! Surely they could have said something more positive than that.

I know money is tight etc, but CML need to show some commitment to providing quality sport, if they expect the punters to support them.

Must be honest - i havent skiied at CML in years! Prior years i normally chose Glenshee over others simply because it was the easiest to get to from Glasgow. The season CML they were in trouble i was in the US skiing in what can only be described as amazing terrain, then last season i felt that glenshee needed the support.

This year, courtesy of the great cover that feb provided, will hopefully be better off and hopefully in less of a make-or-broke scenario. Having said that if CML don't get their act together soon in regards to their attitude towards their clients then we could be right back to where we were in 2003/04 money wise.

Glenshee has always been my chosen place as i said earlier, their staff are friendly and the uplift is usually speedy (am i right in sayin it has the largest skier / hr in scotland !?) and when they brake their lifties r always on hand pretty quickly.

The lecht is somewhere i haven't been since about 1995 but i think this season i'm gonna give them a bash - i've heard nothing but good reports about the center and from what i've seen of them this season and last they are all about the ski bums



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 14.29hrs Sun 27 Nov 05 by Scott.

CairnGorm alone has the web-cams, but they were the last to update this morning, and that only further serves to discourage people who have any distance to travel. It's all very well saying its about costs, and the need to keep staff hours down, but a small number of staff producing an early update should more than pay for itself in that more skiers will travel.

Given the core lifts concept, those 5 surface lifts at least should have been ready to operate.






Edited 1 times. Last edit at 16.13hrs Sun 27 Nov 05 by alan.

Out of interest -- does anyone know if the other areas maintain 100% of their uplift every year? Glenshee specifically?

on a slightly different note, anyone know what they were charging today for a ticket for the Funicular?

just back from cairngorm £20 for a day ticket today ,some of the posts are a bit harsh today as there is a huge amount of snow at the gorm.The weather over the last 4 days has been awful and today wasnt great weatherwise so to open up the area has been a big undertaking .The areas open today were good and the white lady and m1 sidetrack were excellent ,if you get the opportunity its well worth a vist.I belive the next 2 lifts coming on lne ate the M1 poma and the ptamigan,today again both tow lines frozen solid today but plenty snow on the tow tracks ,if the weather remains cold there should be plenty of action at the gorm with the exception of the new lifts -both well snowed under

was there a good turn out at the gorm?
must have been a hassle waiting for funiclular each time?
£15 at lecht yesterday - for 3 pomas and one rope tow.

I think that answers my question. They definately are interested in making a profit out of wintersports. £20 day ticket for just the funicular!!




Edited 1 times. Last edit at 17.58hrs Sun 27 Nov 05 by MikeH.

>some of the posts are a bit harsh today as there is a huge amount of snow at the gorm.The weather >over the last 4 days has been awful and today wasnt great weatherwise so to open up the area has
>been a big undertaking

Remember we are talking about a <i>ski area</i> here, it does take time to open lifts after a big dump but it shouldnt take days and as a ski area they really should be able to do it faster. That is unless they've forgotten thery're a ski area and just think they are the Great Funicular Tourist Trap. Sadly not offering any ski hire just seems to reinforce this idea.

12quid at glenshee today. Beats CML hands down. Lifts ran pretty flawlessly all day. Hope they can get a few more open for next weekend

I heard a rumour that the access restriction from leaving the ptarmagain for non-skiers is being lifted?
is this true? if so will keep the MR busy!

Can someone clarify what lifts are considered to be 'core'. Are these the Cas T-Bar, The M1 Poma, The West Wall Poma, The Ptarmigan and Ciste T-Bars? Where do the Day Lodge Poma, Car Park T-Bar, Fiacaill Ridge Poma fit into things and are the Fiachaill T-Bar, Aonach Poma, Ciste and Westwall Chairs now all de-commisioned.
Oh, and £20 for the use of only the Funicular today was one MAJOR rip-off.

Regards

Olderalan