We are the family who awaits whole 6-7 months for a ski season to start. Although, I must admit, that myself and Mr Sting like skiing more than our children. But they certainly looking forward for having play in the snow! However, for many years as we were planning our winter holidays, Scotland was not a place that was coming to our mind. Here, I must explain that as we love hiking in Scotland that the idea of skiing there was rather odd!

It is not a secret that ski holidays are expensive, especially for common working class people like us. So we came up with this idea of trying to go to Scotland. After all, the accommodation is cheaper than in other places of Europe. On the top of that, it is closer to us than in example Alps.

Snowy Cairgorm

Before we have booked anything we have done our research! From our own experience of hiking in Scotland we knew that the Scottish weather could be simply anything at any time of the year! But, quick Google research and I have found out that the snowiest region in UK is Cairgorm Mountain Range. Luckily, there is the biggest and the oldest ski resort in UK, with 32 kilometres of slopes and 11 lifts available. Surely, it may not sound very impressive if you have ever skied in Alps or even in Carpathian Mountains. However, we thought we should try! We obviously went there for winter half term in February and this month is claimed as the snowiest in that area.

The ski resort for all abilities

We stayed in Aviemore, which is only around 30 min drive from the resort. The resort is located in truly beautiful area with spectacular, typically Scottish views. I am sure that there is a bus available from Aviemore to the ski resort but we have drove there. We arrived quite early so there was no problem with finding the space at the free car park. All information about ski passes and times can be found on this link. I just want to mention that we found this place very friendly, all staff very helpful and organised, on the top of that the ski patrol was very visible. We felt very safe. The resort has all services required for a great winter day! Ski hire, cafe, toilets and above all – slopes for all abilities.

There is a small “but”

The only down side of this place is the old ski lifts. I have found ot from locals that the main T-bar lift has not been changed since the 60’s!!! I cannot say this is confirm information, but in fact this lift was extremely jerky! Nothing what I have experienced before! We had opportunity to ski only on small percentage of the slopes as the weather was quite windy. The other small “but” is the funicular railway, which as per locals is not operating since 2018. This is a real shame! I think it would be a great tourist attraction for every season! Still, the experience was amazing! We were one of the first people on the slope, the night before there was a quite significant snow fall, so we had an opportunity to ski on the fresh, untouched snow! Amazing!

Overall, the experience was very positive and very different. The wind was occasionally very strong but this was still fun! It was a real shame that we could not try different slopes and the railway. Still, we recommend that resort as a cheap quick ski gateways for whole family.

Our skiing kit recommendations:

Check our other skiing adventures here.