'HEARTBREAK’ OVER EMPTY SLOPES,
A ski centre boss has described the sight of deserted snow-covered mountains and perfect winter conditions as“heartbreaking” after lock down cleared the slopes.
The Lecht in the Cairng or ms had four days of good snow before lockdown hit with about 2,500 people heading to the centre before it closed on Monday night.
Fresh snowfall has left perfect ski conditions on the hill as well as closed the snow gates on the A939 but, with the centre now closed, there has been little push to get the route cleared.
Managing director Pie - ter du Pon said yesterday: “Today it is just beautiful here, a perfect day. But it’s heartbreaking to see.
"The road is closed but we would have made a bigger effort to get it open.
"We were just getting good numbers. There were a lot of happy people, a lot of happy children here.
"This is the best January we have had in a long time and it is certainly the best start to the season we have had for five years. Our main season is January and February and it hurts in a big way if we miss that.” Mr du Pon said 12 seasonal staff have been laid off as a result of lockdown.
He added: "We managed to make a little bit of money, which is going to help us going forward for a while. Last year was also not a good year as we also then had to close early. Now we really don’t know how long this is going to go on for.”
Scotland’s ski centres will remain closed until January 31 at least. He added: “In level four, outdoor exercise is still possible and people are still allowed to travel for exercise but we have had to close because people are being told to stay at home.
"Obviously the virus is spreading and we want to support stopping that. We introduced aone-waysy st em–there is very little indoor contact here.”
He said skiers generally did not come into close contact with each other given the equipment and clothing used. "In one way it should be possible to ski. Everybody who ski swears goggles, gloves and something on their face.”
Trafford Wilson, chief executive of Snowsport Scotland, said: “We are working closely with the Scottish Government to understand exactly what we have to do to reopen the centres.”