Should cars be banned on Cairngorm?
Saturday July 10, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

Ramblers say they should be. People would then park at the bottom and take a gondola or shuttle bus up.

The idea from Ramblers Scotland is to protect the natural environment.

At the moment people drive up an access road to the base of a funicular railway and then use it to get to the top.

Now, according to this story in The Herald newspaper, access by road should be restricted.

"We must ask questions about access in general and fundamental to this is if we should continue to drive up to 2000ft on Cairngorm," says Dave Morris, from Ramblers Scotland.

"Lessons from other skiing areas, such as Aonach Mor, near Fort William, and European and North American resorts, suggest that it is better, environmentally and economically, to park in the forest zone at the foot of the mountain," he adds.

"On Cairngorm, if parking provision was made within the Glenmore forest, everyone could travel from there to the upper mountain slopes either by shuttle bus on the existing road, or by a new gondola system through the forest."

This would take people to the bottom of the funicular.

Stage 2 of the journey

His ideas seems fine up to a point, but fails to mention how any new lift would be financed.

There is a campaign underway to get new ski lifts in the resort, as we reported here, but no money seems available.

The option of a bus is not without problems as if people had to rely on shuttle busses then a large number of vehicles would be needed and it would increase journey times.

Just ask anyone who has had to park in the lower car park and take a bus up.

This happens when the upper one is full or special events are held.

The natural beauty of Cairngorm