Make-over for Cairngorm pistes with new machine
A new piste grooming vehicle is set to be purchased for the Cairngorm Mountain ski slopes.
Cairngorm Estate owner, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), is planning to invest £220,000 (excl. VAT) in a new Kässbohrer Pistenbully 100, and associated accessories.
The new vehicle is more powerful and more fuel efficient than the resort’s existing machine, which is over 20 years old.
HIE will own the machine and lease it to mountain operator, Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Limited (CMSL). CMSL employees will use it to keep slopes groomed with a mix of artificial snow from the snow factory machine and natural snow.
The vehicle will also include a passenger cab capable of transporting skiers and boarders to help them reach the higher slopes and access the surface lifts when there is no snow cover at the base station.
The purchase is part of wider investment at Cairngorm by CMSL and HIE to improve the resort’s overall attractiveness and reduce its carbon footprint.
They include refurbishment of the Day Lodge café and bar areas and upgrading the power supply on the mountain to enable snow cannons to run from mains electricity instead of diesel.
More on this story in Thursday's Strathy
