Snowsports group calls for more investment in uplift at CairnGorm Mountain
A group which is campaigning for improved uplift at CairnGorm Mountain has said the new operators will need to invest more money in the uplift in the near future or risk more snowsports fans drifting away.
Members of the Save the Ciste Group were amongst the first to call in to the exhibition on future plans for the attraction held at the Cairngorm Hotel in Aviemore.
Mr Alan Brattey said he was disappointed that there was very little in the first phase proposals for skiers and snowboarders other than ‘a nice building to have a meal in’.
He said that the number of non-skiing visits had fallen by around half since the Cairngorm mountain railway first opened in 2001 and now stood at around 80,000, and it was not surprising the operators wanted to turn this round.
"The plans Natural Retreats are putting forward now are clearly looking to address that to make it more of a repeat visit venue which can only be a good thing for everyone and allow for the company to reinvest," he said, "but it doesn’t do anything for skiers.
"We would like to see the two chairlifts in the Ciste (Coire na Ciste) fixed and running . . .
"We want increased uplift as well as the improvements that are being made such as new motors in the West Wall Poma meaning it may run more often and the better fencing that has been installed.
"But the bottomline is there is no planned increase in uplift or capacity so there’s nothing for upper intermediate and advanced skiers so they’re all off to Glencoe."
Mr Brattey said the group had compiled visitor figures for all the Scottish ski resorts and they showed market share taken at CairnGorm Mountain ‘is almost at an all-time low’.
He said: "It has been down to 32 to 33 per cent over the past two years whereas in the past it has been as high as 50 per cent."
The group said they had looked at figures over the past 12 years to allow for any anomalies.
Mr Brattey said that whilst there was a new chairlift being installed at Glenshee in place of the old Tiger chair and likewise at Glencoe there was no investment in uplift on a similar scale at the Cairngorm resort.
The group also said they had been informed at the exhibition that the plans would lead to the loss of 60 to 70 car parking places, and said there was insufficient capacity already to cater for peak times.
Fellow Ciste campaigner Alan Mackay echoed his concerns, and said there was also a golden opportunity to improve the arrival experience as part of the plans.
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He said that the sense of arrival at the resort at Coire Cas was poor and a better starting point could be the less exposed Coire na Ciste car park area.
Commenting on the present arrangement, Mr Mackay said: "It is not very welcoming and can be quite desolate especially if the car park at Coire Cas is quiet."
The Save the Ciste group said they were still in correspondence with Natural Retreats chiefs and they hope to meet with senior team members early in the New Year.
Mr Adam Gough, Natural Retreats head of technical services for Europe, said that the company was committed to a extensive review of the uplift but the priority at this time was to address the current challenges posed by the Day Lodge and improving customers’ visitor experience.
