J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Snowhunter gives a wider resort and conditions perspective. However, snow depth is perhaps a lesser issue. Conditions in terms of sufficient snow depth is only part of the story. The major reason for resort closures is high winds, and access roads closed due to being blocked by snow.
Road closure is not a function of the amount of snow falling, but of generally persistent wind conditions causing drifts. Piste machines are often diverted off the mountain to help clear the roads.

From my half a dozen pairs of skis stored in Niederau, the pair I most use is Volkl Vertigo, not much of a radius, 71mm waist, but as one of my Austrian friends describes as " very old, very fast".

I do not understand "quicker edge to edge". Quicker down the mountain makes a bit more sense.

Skis are fast, and faster, nicht war?

SwingBeep wrote:That must of been in the mid 1960s (the section joining the Preston and Lancaster bypasses opened in 1965), I was still in short trousers then!

You must have been really keen, 15 hrs in a 1960s coach must have been pretty grim. How many times a season did you manage to put on a trip?

By the time I started going up for weekends, over a decade later the roads had improved enormously.

No, no, I was a very young skier, SB! I too was still in shorts. :oops:
We ran the trips every weekend. I think it was 1967 start, and by the next season we were doing a coach from Leeds and one from Manchester. The Carlisle section was opened in 1970, and the first time I used it was at the end of my first Niederau season when I took my then girlfriend, (later Frau Mac), from London up to Cairngorm. (Her first time on skis)
By then, I had decided to go full time skiing, and I sold out my share in Trans Penine for £90. The business was later sold for £50,000, but in 1970, £90 was gold to me!

Such was the weather in Scotland, it became the norm, that after working for the ski school in Austria for the winter. I then instructed for Trans Penine on their Scottish Easter trips.

Isn't nostalgia wonderful?

Anyway, what I would call keen is walking up Cross Fell, carrying skis, and zipping down 200 yard stretches at the top.

It was 12 hours because the M6 was only part complete, when we were taking coaches, there was a link between the Preston and Lancaster bypasses, all 2 lane. The remainder of the routes were trunk roads.

Leaving from outside Eliis Brighams shop at 7.00pm, we would stop in Dalwhinnie or Kingussie for breakfast, before collecting hire skis from Frith Finlayson in Aviemore. Up the Loch Morloch road, where, on occasion, all 40 of the passengers would have to get off and walk up the steep road sections..... struggling to get round the Devils Elbow, (no longer exists)

So the whole journey as far as Cairngorm car park was nearer 15 hours.

Ellis Brigham had a zippy sports car and could do the journey in six and a half hours!

I agree with you, SB. It is cheaper for me to ski a couple of weeks in Austria, than on Cairngorm!

A week here or there ~ it is nature. In 2007/8, the skiwelt opened in October.
Anyway, another week should see the start of it for the lower areas. Temps due to drop well into the minus zone.

Bonfire wrote:Was the Spittal Hotel not closed anyway?

I have given up on Scotland, it takes nine hours to get their and often the roads and/or ski lifts are shut due to wind

I agree. When I lived in Manchester, I ran a business running coach tours to Cairngorm, traveling overnight on Friday and Sunday, two days skiing. (12 hours each way)
I'm pretty sure it must have been one of our customers that started the Craghopper brand!

On the rare occasions that you have a combination of good snow and good weather, it is enjoyable.

Even though I live close to the area, at the end of last season, I made a decision to covert a one day trip to Glenshee into a half week end of season trip to Niederau...

LOTA, as much as I have always respected your contributions, I feel the term "ridiculous" is harsh. You do not know the particular constraints or circumstances that other posters have.

More pertinent, severe lift constraints apply to some of the best ski places in the world. I have skied in many such places, USA, Canada, Europe, Australia. By far the worst queues I have experienced in Europe is in Zermatt, one of my most esteemed places to be. I go to ski, paint, and gawp at the Matterhorn.
But you gotta get out early! Or suffer a supposedly modern, planned, resort with a lift system so overloaded you have to get there at 8am.

Oh, and my ski experiences in Bulgaria have been positive, including observing really good ski school tuition.

When I say "Young Andy", don't get too excited Andy., I was only trying to be nice.....