Snowboarder at Nevis Range, showing the amazing view from the slopes 24 February 2013, courtesy of Steven McKenna for Ski-Scotland.
Ski-Scotland, the partnership which promotes snowsports in Scotland, reports that this winter is shaping up to be one of the best in recent years. Already last winter’s total figure has been surpassed, and the number of skiers and snowboarders who have enjoyed this year’s snow already stands at over 140,000, well ahead of most seasons in the last decade.
“We know last season wasn’t a good one, but even so, to have beaten that total before the end of the English half term is amazing,” said Chair of Ski-Scotland Heather Negus. “We are also close to beating some of the total season figures during the last ten years – and that’s with two months of the season still to run.”
Up to and including Sunday 24 February, the five mountain snowsports areas have recorded 142,160 ‘skier days’. This figure does not include all season ticket holders and groups at all the areas; some ski areas add these at the end of the season.
Figures are well short of the remarkably snowy 2009-10 season, when almost 375,000 people enjoyed skiing or boarding in Scotland’s mountains, but are creeping up on the figures for the following season, which finished with a total of over 289,000.
Conditions for most of the past fortnight have been outstanding, with ‘bluebird’ days of sunshine, almost no wind and good snow conditions; the icy morning condition soften up in the sun as the day progresses.
This is forecast to continue, with sunshine and light winds, and possibly a few clouds, for the end of the week and the weekend. Some ski areas also report skiers and boarders sliding straight onto the lift at the end of each run as there are no queues.
The advice from Heather and Ski-Scotland is simple: “get out and enjoy it! However, it’s always best to check the up-to-date forecast and conditions, so please do so on ski-scotland.com, with your PC, smart phone or tablet – the webcams show real-time conditions.”