Cairngorm Mountain moves to 5-day week due to lack of snow

Cairngorm Mountain – Scotland’s top winter sports resort – is cutting its opening hours because of a lack of snow.

The Aviemore venue will move to a five-day week from Monday.

Bosses say the decision has been taken for several reasons, including the funicular railway continuing to be out of operation and a lack of natural snow.

A resort spokesman posted online: “Cairngorm Mountain is moving to a five-day-a-week operation from March 2024.

‘Lack of natural snow’ at Cairngorm Mountain

“This is because we’ve entered a much quieter period following the end of the February school holidays, coupled with the funicular being currently out of operation and a lack of natural snow to access the Ptarmigan Bowl.

“From Monday March 4, we will open from Thursdays through Mondays (closing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) throughout March.

“If weather conditions improve and we get new natural snow, which gives access to the higher snow fields, then we will review our operating model.”

There will be no negative impact on permanent staff.

Operating hours will also change slightly from Monday onwards with the resort being open from 9.15am to 4.30pm.

The Cairngorm funicular, which has been taken out of service because of safety fears, is now set to be out for even longer than first planned.

It only returned after a near five-year layoff in January last year.

Owners Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) had hoped it would be back in service before the end of September.

Now, it says there is no timescale for reopening the attraction following its latest problems.

Opened in 2001 at a cost of £19.5 million, the railway connects a base station with a restaurant and a ski area 1,097m up Cairngorm mountain.

HIE said the latest issues with the funicular were complex, and involved checks to thousands of metal rods in the railway structure.

Dave Macleod, head of property and infrastructure, said: “We cannot give a timescale at the moment. It is a really challenging project.

“Every focus is on getting up and running as soon as possible, but it’s a complex project.”

He added: “We are talking as soon as possible. We are not talking years, but probably months rather than weeks.”

Mr Macleod said the situation was disappointing and did mean continuing costs to HIE.