Sue Restan
Two of the north’s ski resorts started their winter sports season at the weekend – but only for one day.
Skiers and snowboarders were able to take to the slopes at Glencoe Mountain Resort and Nevis Range, near Fort William for the first time this winter on Saturday.
But both resorts were closed yesterday due to bad weather.
High winds delayed the opening of the Glencoe resort on Saturday, but they had dropped sufficiently to open the access chairlift and the plateau poma lift at midday.
Resort manager, Angela Dingwall, said there were about 150 people on the hill on Saturday.
She said: “We were pleased to be able to open to start the season, and 150 is not too bad especially when we were on hold for so long in the morning.”
Yesterday a spokesman for the resort said it was closed because the weather was “absolutely horrendous”.
He said: “It was lashing down with rain, we had 50mph-60mph winds and the temperature was 11C.”
He added that the snow was disappearing fast.
On Saturday, about 200 people bought tickets for the gondola on the first day of the winter sports season at Nevis Range, which celebrated its 25th anniversary.
A spokeswoman for the resort said: “Saturday was a lovely day, with clear skies so we were able to start our ski season.”
She added that they were unable to open the gondola yesterday due to strong winds.
Both resorts said they would have to assess the situation this morning before deciding whether they could open.
Meanwhile, CairnGorm Mountain near Aviemore, which started skiing on Saturday, December 13, was open for winter sports all weekend, but the beginners slopes were closed yesterday due to high winds.