Glencoe Mountain Resort

Winter has been a long time coming. At Christmas I had cousins visiting from Australia and they would stay almost the full month of January. The plan was to get up the hill and shred with them before they had to travel home. 

Winter did not cooperate, not until two days before departure. I took the Wednesday off work and we made our way up to Glencoe.

Morning Glory

The drive north started in the dark and the frost. As we neared Loch Lomond we passed through some low lying mist, before breaking through into clear skies with gorgeous pink glow on the horizon. As we drove up the access road to the ski hill, we passed the Black Rock Cottage with Buachaille Etive Mòr beyond. A large full moon completed the scene, suspended in a blushing morning sky. Needles to say I failed to capture this scene as we drove on to the car park.

Conditions on the Hill

I picked up my season ticket as well as the lift tickets  for the others. Cousin Ewan wasn’t snowboarding or skiing, so took a walk up to the Cafe, while Ian and Carleigh joined me for a slide. Now, it has been a long time coming but the only open lifts were on the Plateau and Corrie Pollach. I did catch a glimpse of the Cliffy running, but it must have been for staff as it stopped soon after.

The uptrack on the Plateau was in pretty good nick considering what little snow there was, with only a few tufts of grass and the odd rock on show. The plateau run itself was a combination of pockets of windblown powder along the fences and ‘interesting undulations’ elsewhere. On one of the undulations I stacked it, going down on one knee, Nothing serious, but thought I should take it easy since I’d be heading out to the Alps in less than two weeks.

Corrie Pollach was fun too. A lot is still needed to fill things in but the middle of the hill was looking pretty white. The upper hill looks like it has a bit to go with the deeper gullies and scree slopes needing cover.

The Snow Factory had produced a pile of snow which had been spread down the run towards the cafe. This had been groomed and felt fantastic. Just watch out for the freshly made patch being spat out of the pipe. It felt just like ballbearings as I washed out on a heel side turn.

We had fun within the limited area, but it was just great to get the season underway.

The Future Looks White

As I write up this post a few days later, we are experiencing a warm blip. But the cold looks set to return. I probably wont get to ride until I return from France so my season won’t really get underway at Glencoe well into February.

I think we all need to keep everything crossed and get our snow dance on.