NIce Day In Prospect

A couple of shots from earlier this morning, just to cheer people up who can't make it up to because their keyboards are goin in to melt down!

Happy Sliding

Cheers Colin

 Also Iain, Head of Ski Patrol has asked me to post the piece below to help clarify our position on rope lines and piste preparation.

 Hello folks,

We had a number skiers and boarders asking us last weekend about restricted areas and the use of rope lines to close off runs and pistes. I hope the following will explain my policy on these areas as Head of Ski Patrol at Cairngorm Mountain.

There are a number of reasons why I would ask my team to close a piste or run, most commonly it would be on the grounds of safety, for example: avalanche risk, icy conditions, insufficient snow cover, the inability to safely evacuate casualties, dangers under the snow pack, pisting operations, competitions and the list goes on.

There are a number of areas which I would describe as having "hard barriers" which will usually consist of a rope line with hi visibility poles and signage (KEEP OUT or RUN CLOSED), this would be true of the West/East Wall/Ciste Gully. When this area is open for access to the public there will be open rope gates in place with an "ACCESS GATE" sign. Also the areas beside the Funicular tracks and runs being prepared by the PB 600 with the winch operating will be similarly closed with rope lines. I would expect that no one would enter these areas and if found doing so, I would instruct my team to revoke the persons uplift privileges.  Access gates will also be closed when the West Wall Poma is closing.

On the weekend of the 10/11th Dec we had a rope line in place closing the Cas side of the mountain. This was to enable the piste machines to dose snow and use the winch to move snow more effectively; this speeds up the process of opening runs and improves the piste quality. The Ski Patrol also had to mark various obstacles which could not be done on the Friday as they were helping replace the tow ropes which came off in the 165mph winds.

We also have a number of rope lines in place as a guide stop members of the public leaving the Ski Area in poor visibility, for example the top of the Ptarmigan Tow.

Questions have also been asked as to why runs with marginal snow conditions cannot be accessed at the users own risk. This is a difficult one for me, what usually happens in this situation is that a competent user may be followed by a less competent user who then gets in to difficulty or gets injured which places potential rescuers at risk. If this were to happen it may need a number of Ski Patrollers to affect a rescue when their time would be better utilized preparing and opening other slopes.

I would ask that if any Skiers or Boarders are in any doubt if a run or piste is closed then they should contact a member of Ski Patrol to seek clarification. We may also be able to give advice on slopes which are out with the Ski Area which are free from ropes, signs and clipboards which can be accessed by a little sweat,

Happy Skiing/Boarding,

Iain Cornfoot

Head of Ski Patrol Cairngorm Mountain