An Introduction To Skiing In Scotland
Scotland is famous for being the home of the Highland Games and golf and it is well-known for rugby and football and skiing. Skiing?, you may well ask. Yes, it is true, Scotland has some of the very few resorts in the United Kingdom where you can have a holiday in a skiing resort. In fact there are a number of world class skiing resorts in Scotland. So, if you fancy touring Scotland, you can add skiing on your list for possible things to do.
Scotland is not only a beautiful country which not only has ancient cities, but it also has beautiful mountains, lakes and wildernesses and the Scots are renowned for their hospitality. The language is not a problem if you are an English speaker, nor is the food, if you prefer British food although there are always foreign restaurants close at hand too.
One such Scottish skiing resort is Aviemore which is situated up north in the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands. In fact Aviemore is a good instance of a world-class Scottish skiing resort. There is fantastic skiing for the morning and early afternoon, fantastic food and great night life. People come to Aviemore to ski from all more than the world often combining it with a trip back to the mother country.
You are sure to forget where you are after a few days in Aviemore. You could be on any of the world’s best skiing slopes but without the complications of foreign languages and foreign food that many people find a difficulty. Other activities available in Aviemore are: observing Britain’s solitary free-grazing herd of reindeer, hiking, mountain biking, water sports, horse riding and pony trekking.
In fact Scotland has four other skiing centres, if you do not ike to go to Aviemore in the Cairngorms. The are also skiing resorts at Nevis, Glencoe, Glenshee and The Lecht.
The Nevis Centre boasts skiing at 1190 metres (3,900 feet) and can normally offer skiing and snowboarding amenities until sometime in the spring. Besides the skiing, which caters to skiers of all levels of skill is the Gondola ski lift which affords stunning views on the way up. The dining and night life aspects of apres ski are well taken provided for as well.
Glencoe on Glencoe Mountain is Scotland’s oldest skiing resort which opened its first ski lift in 1956. Although the resort has been there for fifty-odd years, it is by no means old-fashioned. It does have a propensity to cater for the more expert skier. However, there are seven lifts and nineteen ski runs, so all skiers can find a slope for them. Look out for the run called The Fly Paper the most thrilling black-graded run in Britain.
Glenshee is the biggest skiing resort in Scotland and the UK with twenty-one ski lifts and tows and thirty-six slopes. Glenshee has been operating since 1957 and offers a training school too, although there is something for all levels of skiers.
The Lecht is Scotland’s smallest ski resort, but it also has a longer skiing season. There are runs for all levels of skiers and some of them run for twenty kilometers. If the snow is a bit sparse, they have facilities to create their own at The Lecht.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now involved with short ski breaks. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Ski Package Holidays.