New vehicle planned for Cairngorm ski centre

Uplift at the resort has been limited by the closure of the site's funicular railway

The Cairngorm Mountain snowsports centre could get a new vehicle to help skiers and snowboarders reach higher slopes this winter.

Uplift at the resort has been limited by the closure of the site's funicular railway due to structural problems.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which owns the centre and railway near Aviemore, plans to invest £220,000 in a new piste grooming machine.

The vehicle would have a cab for carrying passengers.

The machine could then be used to transport small groups of skiers and snowboarders at a time to higher slopes and to access ski lifts when there was no snow cover at lower levels.

HIE said staff at the resort's operator, Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Limited (CMSL), were working hard to prepare for the new winter season.

A new piste grooming machine is planned for Cairngorm Mountain

The funicular railway has been closed for more than a year.

HIE has said the potential cost of repairing it has been estimated at £10m while dismantling the structure could run to more than £13.3m.

The Scottish government will be asked to make a decision on the repairs.

HIE, a public body, said it expected to have the business case for this work to be ready to submit to the government in December.