Snowfall brings rings bumper season ason for skiers

PHENOMENAL WINTER snowfall in Scotland’s mountains brought good results for the country’s ski resorts.

The season saw 235,303 “skier days” across the five mountain ski centres and is estimated to have been worth around £23.7 million to the Scottish economy.

Of that, £4.7m was spent at the ski areas themselves, with the remaining £19m benefiting local businesses such as hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops and petrol stations.

Snow flurries came thick and fast during November and December, carpeting the Lecht, Glenshee, CairnGorm Mountain, Glencoe Mountain and the Nevis Range.

There was so much snow that many ski area staff spent longer digging out chairlifts and tow huts than they did selling tickets and operating lifts, resulting in fewer operational days for most ski areas.

That was certainly the case at Glenshee, where November’s storm buried many runs.

Some of its top lifts were encased until March but Glenshee’s Aileen Lawrence said there was little to complain about.

“It’s been a fantastic and lengthy ski season— with the runs in use from December right through until March 29, which was our last day,” she said.

The figures have delighted Ski-Scotland, which promote the snowsports industry.

“Back at the end of January, there was deeper snow on most of Scotland’s upper pistes than there was in world-renowned resorts in the Alps, Pyrenees and even the Rockies,” said chairman Heather Negus.

“In fact, some pistes in the Highlands were twice as deep as those overseas — and the snow kept on coming and coming.

“With only 441 operational days across the five resorts last winter and spring we had, on average, 534 skiers per day.

“Bearing in mind that some of the best ‘bluebird’ days were working days for most people, that is an excellent average.”

Picture: Kris Miller. The Glenshee season lasted from December until the end of March. Graeme Davidson of the ski patrol tackles deep snow earlier this year.