CairnGorm Mountain above Aviemore in Scotland, which is celebrating 50 years of mechanised up lift this winter, will be opening for night skiing and boarding in the Ptarmigan Bowl sector of the slopes this Thursday 16 February from 4pm until 8pm.
Customers who have bought a full or ½ day ticket already can just keep on skiing. If they arrive after 4pm, tickets for the evening's skiing and snowboarding will be £9.95.
To help keep the energy levels up, the Ptarmigan Restaurant and Bar at the top station of the resort's funicular will be open late serving hot food such as venison burgers, homemade sausage rolls, and macaroni as well as mulled wine and hot chocolate. Outside there will be music on the mountain and the Red Bull Wings team will also be doing some sampling.
During the day on Thursday between 11.30am and 1.30pm and also on Friday 17 February, visitors going up on the funicular will be able to meet Moudy the search and rescue dog and his handler David Benson outside the Ptarmigan Top Station and hear about how he goes about his work. This is free for funicular ticket holders but donations are welcome to the Search and Rescue Dog Association Scotland.
On Sunday 19 February the first Roxy Girls Shred Day is being run at CairnGorm to give female boarders the chance to broaden their snowsports skills and take advantage of CairnGorm's current freestyle setup with the "Mini Shreds" providing an ideal learning zone. Participation costs £10 plus your snowsports ticket and you can register your interest on facebook.
"It is several years since we were able to provide floodlit snowsports so we are delighted to be able to offer our half term customers the opportunity for a longer day's skiing by floodlighting the Ptarmigan bowl as well as an opportunity for people who live locally to come and ski or board after work," said CairnGorm Mountain marketing manager Colin Kirkwood.