The long-awaited 'proper' start to the Scottish ski season (after a warm and mostly dry autumn and early winter) seems to be gathering momentum with the two West Coast ski areas of Glencoe and Nevis Range opening several full runs each following fresh snowfall and low temperatures for snowmaking over the past week.
Glencoe opened three lifts yesterday from lunchtime when the access road, which had been closed earlier due to the hazardous driving conditions, was re-open, and it has more terrain open today,
"There's lovely powder snow across the mountain. We will have the Access Chair, Plateau Poma and Coire Pollach tows running today. Plateau Run and Old Mugs Alley are groomed, other lower runs are skiable, but are ungroomed and have some natural hazards," a Glencoe spokesperson said, "Great snow conditions despite the thin cover, perfect conditions for beginners."
Today Nevis Range near Fort William to the north have opened their Linnhe and Alpha tows serving several short ski runs.
Yesterday the resort said ski tourers could access 650 metres of skiable vertical from the gondola.
All five Scottish Highland ski areas had already been offering beginner lessons on small snow areas either at their base or in Nevis range's case at the top of the gondola. Three of the resorts (Glencoe, The Lecht and Cairngorm) had been doing so since December thanks to new all-weather snowmaking machines.
Cairngorm is creating an ever-bigger area for snowsports, now several hundred metres long, with its snowmaking systems and added freestyle terrain features for added fun at the weekend.