Nevis Range Plans New Chairlift To Make Skiing More Likely Into The Future

Scotland’s Nevis Range ski area has announced plans to build a new chairlift with the combined aims of making lift-accessed snow sports possible for longer into the future and further boosting their growing mountain biking, walking, sightseeing and international events business.

The resort, one of the world’s newest ski areas established in the early 1990s had not really opened for snow sports for two years until this winter when it was able to open limited terrain for a limited period. A key lift which could have allowed access to more terrain was not functioning when the sustained snow cover and wintery weather arrived.

In a sign of how quickly climate change is advancing, the centre says that although designed in the late twentieth century, “The strongest and most reliable snow conditions are increasingly found higher on the mountain, within the main snowsports area. Much of the lower mountain infrastructure was designed for a different era, different winters and different snow lines. That is why our long-term strategy is focused on improving access to where the snow actually is.”

Their plan is to remove and replace lower mountain lifts and development a new uplift system connecting their gondola’s top station towards the summit snow sports area.  The main planned development is a new fixed-grip quad with bubble cover.  The lift would be designed to cope with the strong winds common in the Scottish Highlands.

In an anonymous blog post on their website, someone wrote, “…we can confirm that Nevis Range is in advanced discussions regarding significant international investment intended to secure the long-term future of the mountain and modernise how people access it for generations to come.”

The blog notes that snowmaking is not financially viable due to the high electricity costs against likely revenue from ticket sales.  The centre had previously invested in an all-weather snowmaking system, an operating model which has allowed the four other Scottish centres to function through mild spells, but Nevis Range has said that theirs isn’t functioning.

“There is still work to do, and major investment projects do not happen overnight. We hope to secure the investment required before the end of this calendar year, although major projects always involve challenges and complexities along the way,” the blog states, adding, “This is about redesigning access to snow sports — not walking away from them. In fact, we believe the opposite is true. …This is about creating a true year-round mountain destination.”