Snowsure: 2.7
- Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
- Is often closed due to a lack of snow
- Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
- Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
- Cairngorm is snowsure even in the poorest seasons
Visitor reviews for Cairngorm Ski Resort
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(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Latest
January 15, 2011
Hendren from
United Kingdom
Hendren from
United Kingdom
Returned today from a couple of days skiing at Cairngorm. My first visit and felt we just got in before it turned into a 'Water Park' as the snow is melting at a rapid rate on the lower levels.
Yesterday (14/1/11) arrived at the top at 09.00 to find only ice to slide on down the Traverse as the 40-50kt winds had blown all the snow off the top of the hill. By mid afternoon only things I could see moving in the main area were the Trains, Fiacaill Ridge Poma (experts only, not me) and the Car Park T-Bar.
Can’t make comment on west side lifts as only ventured there once, but must say the blue run from the Ptarmigan Restaurant to the Base Station was the best of the day for me, I just wasn’t prepared to wait for the length of time it took someone to decide to drive the train back up the hill.
All in all, feel we got a fair deal from Ski Norwest with the Highlander Hotel/Meals/Ski Gear and Lift Passes but think I will spend extra next time to visit a better organised European venue with more likelihood of actual snow on the ground.
December 20, 2010
Tone
Tone
Lol to my country...love that, yeah on the plus side I learned to ski Feb 2010, mostly at Cairngorm. Fabulous days when I was able to get there from England and...I thought the staff were very warm, friendly, helpful people.
I didn't think the same of some (not many) early twenties boarders who seemed to have an attitude of "I got hair, baggy pants and a board, rebel too so I don't queue". Some lift ops seemed to turn a blind eye to this! Infuriating! Queue jumping needs stamping on. If they won't queue they dont use the lifts. This season I encountered large ice sheets on geen runs...scary and painful, suggest snowmakers??
What I am annoyed about is the suspension of season tickets, how dare they? Just because it looks like being a cracking season they want to milk more cash from the punters! Well, I hope this bites their butt and people go to other resorts for season tickets in future. Cairngorm, it's short term thinking. There will be poor seasons too and some people won't forget.
December 12, 2010
carver from
United Kingdom
carver from
United Kingdom
The skiing is fantastic although limited at Cairngorm. The business is very, very poor. We were there for 4 days and when buying tickets I mentioned this. I was told the cheapest method was to buy a book of 4 vouchers, fantasic, so I did but then 3 days in, going up the funicular, an announcement was made: "if you're thinking of skiing tomorrow don't come here as we are closed all day for staff training", great! When I went back for a refund I saw the man at the counter and said I wanted a refund because they were due to be closed the next day and I was sold a 4 day pass (equivalent). The response was "are we?" so I informed him it was "staff training", "oh, I've been here too long for that". So I went to the Lecht for the day. They were far more organised and had more lifts and runs open even though they are a smaller resort and they were'nt even charging full price because a couple of drags weren't running. Am going to take some beginers back here in Feb.
[note from the editor: review made shorter for purpose of relevance]
December 09, 2010
EliteBoarder from
United Kingdom
EliteBoarder from
United Kingdom
Basically, if you're a novice/beginner, go to the Lecht. A busy day on the Lecht is like a quiet day on the Gorm. The Lecht has a better beginner area (including a magic carpet), better system for hiring gear, and less wind etc. There is no point learning to ski/board on the Gorm on a busy day.
If on the other hand you're a more advanced rider get to the Gorm as early as possible and always take your own gear. When you're up the mountain, ride out of the way blacks and reds (if available) because the queues for those lifts will tend to be smaller. The Gorm has interesting natural features with plenty of wind lips, mini cliff drops and powder fields (deffo get there early if you want to get some fresh turns!) resulting in some epic riding! If the road is shut up to the mountain then there is generally enough snow to ride around Glenmore, get yourself some snow shoes (either buy or hire from Glenmore shop) or XC skis and go exploring round the back of Glenmore particularly up Meall a Bhuachaille and down Creag Loisgte towards An Lochan Uaine. If there is a fresh dump of powder the tree riding is almost as good anywhere I have experienced in the backcountry of the Alps! Another option is to hike up towards the Lairig Gru taking the path at the Aviemore end of Loch Morlich. There are numerous steep powder fields on the way up. (Obviously, all relevant safety precautions should be met when out in the backcountry and out of ski patrol areas.)
December 07, 2010
scapa99 from
United Kingdom
scapa99 from
United Kingdom
Payment system badly managed. A typical example of how this country has no clue how to handle large volumes of people, however efforts to improve are clearly being made but this still not good enough and their system is not clearly advertised.
We were told by a friend to bring cash (to Cairngorm) so we did, when we arrived staff were directing people cash only to go to separate window with a short queue – sweet we thought. When we got to the front we asked for lift pass and hire and the lady rudely told us that this was for ticket only as if we were supposed to know and how stupid we were for asking. I politely asked for an explanation why because this didn’t make sense, no explanation was given and we were again rudely told if you want hire get in the other queue. Whilst in the other queue I asked a passing member of staff why we cannot hire ski in the cash only window and he explained that they need your card details to ensure you return them plus you fill in a form for hire so this would defeat the purpose of a quick cash only system – perfect explanation, why could the cranky one at the cash window not have told us that instead of being rude to us (I reported her too).
So to beat the queues:
1 Buy and bring your own gear or hire in Aviemore before you get there.
2 Bring cash for your lift pass.
3 Book online (only for lift pass) pick up at rangers office.
Booking on line sounds like a fantastic modern way to pay, however it is seriously flawed. First, again no ski hire is offered – why? You input your card details so that’s the gear insured – this clearly needs to change. Secondly the queue for the rangers office was small but the guy was taking like 10 minutes per person to serve meaning way slower than the cash queue so basically there is no benefit to book on line. Thirdly the snow gate gets closed regularly so if you book on line and its closed do you get a refund? – Nothing stated online.
So we waited in the huge queue, an hour or so later when I could actually see the window I noted people have to fill in a form for hire. I watched as the cashier waited each time for people to fill it in, so I thought there should be desks and forms and pens on the way to the desk (like in airports) so when you get to the front the form is completed speeding up the process. So I went to the desk and asked if I could hand out some forms and pens to people in the queue. The lady was very nice and said that would be a good idea but unfortunately their forms are numbered and have to be input in sequence. Very frustrating my idea was sound this numbered sequence thing is clearly inefficient and needs to change.
Another idea a mini cash machine. So many people just wanted a pass but had to wait in the hire & pass queue because they had no cash. Yes these mini cash machines charge you like £2 but compared to 2 hours skiing lost through waiting in queues a small price to pay. The companies that supply these machines make a huge profit with this; they would jump at the chance of installing one there.
There you have it; I have no clue about running a successful business but have just improved the ski centre operations in a few paragraphs. Why can’t the simpletons in management see this, in my opinion they just don’t care, they think people have travelled this far so they will just have to wait and they are right; we do wait in the cold like total chumps while they sit back in their warm office watching the money roll in.
Finally rant over. The hire staff were friendly and helpful, the skiing is actually quite good, snow perfect but visibility can be shocking and pretty unpredictable but hey – that’s Scotland for ya.
November 30, 2010
Adam West from
United Kingdom
Adam West from
United Kingdom
We loved Cairngorm for skiing. No it is not a big alpine resort with hundreds of runs and thousands of ski lifts but it is small and intimate with amazing views. And there are all sorts of things to do if the road up to the mountain is not open. We brought the kids as I wanted them to try skiing without the expense of traveling abroad so that they could learn. We also took them to the raindeer centre and down to see the polar bears (a big hit with the 10 year old) and then a ride on the steam train. All great fun and I didn't have to remortgage the house. I would recommend it to any family or young or novice skier to find their feet. And the resort can be reached quickly from the UK if you just fancy a weekend away on the slopes. All in all, a fantastic experience.
November 30, 2010
Callum Reeves from
United Kingdom
Callum Reeves from
United Kingdom
I went to Cairngorm on Saturday 27th November. I arrived in Aviemore at 9:30am and it took 2 hours before I could buy my ticket. The road on the way up from Aviemore to the anow gates was horrible. However, the road was cleared from the anow gates up to the car park. Great job on clearing that road but what about the rest of it? It's a bit pointless since everyone was stuck at the hill by the clay pigeon hut! To add to the pain, their website had initially stated the price was £20.50 the night before due to limited uplift. Upon arriving however, it was now possible to ski from top to bottom so they whacked it up to full price. Now this I would accept but the uplift remained only with the M1 poma, a T-bar at the top and the funicular and it had taken me an extra 2 hours to actually manage to buy a full day ticket (couldn't get a half-day ticket since it wasn't 12:30 yet). So the queues were long and uplift remained limited. They had enough snow to open up all the lifts but they didn't. Please Cairngorm, this place has the potential to be fantastic. When I was out on the slopes, I was so happy to be snowboarding in 30 inches of powder, but the organisation gave me a bitter after-taste.
September 25, 2010
Gary Bamford from
United Kingdom
Gary Bamford from
United Kingdom
It will soon be another season on Caingorm and I wonder how many days will be lost by not having the right snow ploughs. and not getting the roads open; it's not good enough. All you see is closed. You need to update your road status throughout the night. To make matters even worse you drive past their antiquated snow ploughs and wonder if it's 2010. I would sack the lot and start again; the old school had a better idea. I live in Aviemore and the service is very bad: never open on time. Fed up about lots of snow on the roads and not open but you can always get there. Caingorm be fare, make a better service, open at night and get things sorted.
August 20, 2010
Jack kelly from
United Kingdom
Jack kelly from
United Kingdom
Cairngorm is brilliant if you get the right weather and it can offer superb skiing and especially this season as it was like skiing in the Alps offering amazing powder and clear blue skies. The only things I think need improving are the drag lifts and the car park as it is always completely full and poorly managed. It would also be nice to see some chairlifts but really you can't complain too much as I live in Inverness and it only takes me about 30 mins to get there. So if the conditions are poor I just turn around and head home. I will definitly be getting a season pass again and if you haven't yet been what are you waiting for. Get yourselves up there!
May 08, 2010
Jim in Wrexham from
United Kingdom
Jim in Wrexham from
United Kingdom
Having never skied Scotland before I had two 3 day trips this winter. Cairngorm was the best of the 3 areas (the other 2 being Glenshee and Nevis) and the snow was as good as anything I have ever experienced in Europe. Yeah, the organisation isn't great but after years of poor conditions investment is going to be difficult. Maybe after this season they can put some of that extra income into new investment. Chairlifts would be nice but maybe would be closed a lot due to high winds? 6 days skiing for less than £500 in total (including both trips, fuel, food and drink and accomodation) cheap as chips. I am lucky to be in a job where I can look at the weather and set off at 24 hours notice, if you can do that it's well worth a visit.
Nearest