Last day of skiing in Scotland
Wednesday June 9, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

A statement on the resort's web site from Sunday says it all.

"The end of our snowsports season has finally come! A handful of hardy skiers and boarders had fun in the terrain park and Ptarmigan Bowl today, after a huge effort from Iain Pentland and Brian Cottam. Roll on next season; it could only be 4 months away!!"

With that an epic Scottish winter, that will remain long in the memory, came to an end.

On Saturday 152 skiers and snowboarders turned out with 562 sightseers there just to see skiing and snowboarding taking place this far into the year.

The last time skiing was available at this time in June was 1992

But the opening was delayed on Sunday morning as the crews tried to patch up the slopes and cover the bare patches that were appearing at an alarming speed.

On Saturday it warned people, via Twitter, that things were drawing to a close.

"Well, it looks like the end of this incredible season is almost here! Tomorrow may well be the last day of snowsports."

On Sunday morning it said the slopes would open for the afternoon.

"We shall be offering snowsports this afternoon from midday. Machines and staff still patching the Ptarmigan track and piste. Good skiing through the terrain park and it's fringes, excellent summer snow! Great fun still to be had! Bottom of the Ptarmigan tow now very patchy and care required! Unseasonal warm temperatures affecting snow cover..."

The resort had said that it hoped to go on for several more weekends and wanted to stay open till after mid-summer's day.

"If there is skiing at midsummer then that would be the first here in living memory," said Colin Kirkwood, a spokesman from the resort.

It is no longer possible to ski to mid-station. The terrain park has the most to offer and is still in quite good condition. However, warm conditions are changing the snow rapidly and this now looks unlikely.

The temperature has rise to +12c during the day. Once again people have been out in shorts and T-shirts.

Spring skiing in Scotland

But what a winter it has been.

Figures recently released by Ski Scotland showed the ski areas have had their best season 14 years.

The 5 ski resorts have attracted 373,782 people and is estimated to have put £37.5m into the local economy.

Last year 159,000 skier days were recorded across all the resorts Scotland.

The season Cairngorm, up until the middle of May, had 144,000 skier days.

Its average is about 55,000 skier days and its worst in reent times was 38,000.

"It's been amazing, just excellent. All the resorts have had good seasons and everyone has worked really hard in terms of getting roads open and things like that in extreme conditions," said Heather Negus, from Ski Scotland.

"Everything really came together for us. We had lots and lots of superb snow, which kept on coming, some truly amazing weather, and, because there was also snow elsewhere in the UK, people realised that the Scottish Highlands did have skiing and snowboarding to rival the best and they came here to enjoy it."

This weekend it is still going on with the train and the Ptarmigan Tow taking people up the mountain.

"This is a very rare opportunity to get lift served snowsports on a Scottish Mountain in summer, so come along and be a part of something a little bit special and don't miss out on your chance to say "I've skied in Scotland in June"," said a statement on Friday on the web site Winterhighland.

It covers all things to do with skiing in Scotland

The web site goes on to describe conditions.

"Beyond the Ptarmigan Bowl there is still extensive snow fields on the Plateau for high level touring, while within the ski area the Ciste Gully could provide a much longer run for those willing to do some leg work, but if venturing beyond the Ptarmigan Bowl, please bear in mind the risk of afternoon thunderstorms, especially if touring on the plateau."

So, what were conditions like so late in the season?

We will be bringing you a video of last weekend shortly, but in the meantime here is what it looked like over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Here's a video from Bank Holiday Monday from the top station to the mid station.

Bookmark this page

Related Articles