It’s snowing heavily in the Highlands raising hopes that the country’s five ski areas will be able to open more terrain shortly.
The 21-22 season kicked off early for most of the Scottish ski areas in mid-December after a cold and snowy first half of December however the final fortnight of 2021 saw unseasonably warm weather, culminating in the country seeing +16C at Hogmanay, and much of the early cover was lost.
(Nevis Range)
But the forecast for the start of January is much more promising and snow is falling again.
“It’s bitterly cold with snow showers so if visiting please make sure you are suitably dressed. Severe windchill today so not suitable for young children. Weather tomorrow looking much better,” a Glencoe statement reads.
All five centres now have all-weather snowmaking systems and have been able to keep operating small snow areas, primarily for beginners and for fun activities like tubing and sledging, through the Christmas and new year holidays despite the warm weather. Cairngorm is pictured below on 29th December.
However, with only limited snow space available, centres including Cairngorm have struggled to meet demand and were booked up days and sometimes week ahead over the festive period, although that’s now easing as things have got quieter and conditions improved.
All five centres are now all hoping to be able to expand what they can offer so long as mother nature continues to play ball.
“It’s been dumping at the top station and all the way down to sea level at Nevis Range! Keep snow dancing because it seems to be working!” a statement from the centre (pictured below this morning) reads.
