Scottish ski centres hope for snow-filled new season

Some of Scotland's ski centres have started their latest snowsports season - in low temperatures but with little real snow around.

The Lecht in Aberdeenshire and Cairngorm Mountain, near Aviemore, have used artificially-produced snow to open their beginners areas.

Glencoe Mountain Resort, Nevis Range and Glenshee Snowsports Centre have opened as usual for other activities, but not yet for snowsports.

The industry is hopeful of enjoying the kind of snow-filled seasons they have had in the past, but there are concerns about the growing threat of climate change.

Some of the best snowsports conditions in years came in early 2021, but the centres were closed due to Covid restrictions.

Last season started well, with skiing and snowboarding available from late December before mild weather in February hit snowsports businesses.

Among those hoping for similar conditions this season is businessman Andy Meldrum, who took over Glencoe Mountain Resort 16 years ago.

In that time, he and his team have seen the chairlifts buried in snow and skiing into the spring, but other years the white stuff has been decidedly scarce on the ground.

Last season started beautifully. The slopes, picture postcard perfect.

Mr Meldrum says: “We started skiing in late December.

"We had our busiest ever January with record numbers on the hills but then come February it turned mild, the snow almost disappeared and we didn’t have enough to keep going safely and then we never skied again for the rest of the year.”

It was Scotland’s third warmest February on record.

Iain Cameron has been tracking Scotland’s snow for decades - a childhood hobby which is now the focus of his professional research.

In particular, he documents the fate of a patch of snow known as the Sphinx situated on Britain’s third highest mountain, Braeriach in the Cairngorms.

Historically, it can last all through the summer.

Iain Cameron at a shrinking snow patch

Mr Cameron says: “Up until the first part of the 20th Century it had never been known to melt but in 1933 it disappeared and it was such an unusual occurrence that the Scottish Mountaineering Club wrote to the Times.

"Little did they know that it would melt again in 1959, then in 1996, 2003, 2006, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023. "

He added: "What I am seeing is quite a bit less snow fall in winter and all it takes is a slight increase in temperature and the precipitation that would normally have fallen as snow will fall as sleet or rain.”

Snow-making systems are now widely used on ski resorts.

They are not without their own issues because they use a lot of water and energy, although some resorts are investing in renewables to power them.

Glencoe has a system called the SnowFactory.

From the outside it looks like a big shipping container but inside it's filled with large tanks and cooling systems.

It is capable of making between 85 and 100 cubic metres of snow every 24 hours, a supply of snow that can be moved around to fill gaps in the slopes as needed.

The resort has also diversified to offer activities like disc golf and mountain biking should the snow fail to show, although Mr Meldrum remains hopeful for Scotland’s skiing prospects.

He says: “We are a maritime climate and I think we will always get snow.

"Our best-ever season for snow was 2014 and the temperature in the west coast of Scotland was 1.5C warmer than normal, but we got 70 days in a row where it snowed everyday.

"So we are pretty confident we will be able to do something going forward.”