Twice as many skiers as usual headed to ski slopes at weekend

Scotland became a magnet for skiers and snowboarders at the weekend following the heavy falls of snow.

Andy Meldrum, managing director of Glencoe Mountain resort on Rannoch Moor, which has the longest and steepest ski run in Scotland, said that high numbers of visitors – around 1,300 skiers – had caused some problems on Saturday.

“Saturday was a glorious day. There was perfect snow which was a major attraction for many people.

“We had twice as many peo- ple as we could cope with on Saturday.

“People were travelling from right across the UK and from Northern Ireland – about half for the skiing and the other half for snowboarding.”

Glencoe Mountain had put a message on Twitter which said: “Sorry folks our car park is full.” They also allocated staff to work overnight to deal the car park.

Some visitors said they had arrived at three in the morning and were unable to park.

But experienced skiers said a rush of people was inevitable.

However, by yesterday the situation had mostly resolved itself, with road closures deterring some potential snowsport enthusiasts from travelling.

“Yesterday we had around 800peoplewhichwasmoreor less back to our normal levels.

“The A82 was shut and the challenge for many people was how to get away.”

Many people were caught up in a six-mile traffic tailback on Saturday which resulted in some drivers abandoning their vehicles. Car parks at both centres were full.

Meanwhile the Nevis Range, nearbennevis,advisedpeople wanting to ski to check their recorded message this morning as strong winds expected today could affect the gondola.