Blogger: Stephanie Lynch
Last weekend, we stepped out of our comfort zone and tried something we had never tried before. When we think of ski holidays we normally think of Andorra, Austria, Switzerland and places similar to these. We wouldn’t necessary think of going on a ski holiday in Scotland. We drove on Friday to Fort William which is about a three hour drive from Edinburgh. We stayed in a lovely B&B looking out on the water and spent our weekend enjoying lots of adventures(lots more blog posts coming soon). One of our adventures was a ski trip. About 40 minutes from Fort William(towards Edinburgh) lies an amazing gem, Glencoe Ski Resort. You drive in a long lane and you come to a car park full of snowboarders, skiers and a new world of adventure. As you enter you are surrounded by the natural beauty on Rannoch Moor (QT TIP: stunning views of Buachaille Etive Mor). In winter skiing, snowboarding, sledging and avalanche rescue training are the main activities running. 19 runs across 7 lifts catering for skiers and boarders of all levels, even us as beginners. (QT Tip: For the more experiences, this includes the longest and steepest runs in Scotland).
NOTE: If you visit the spot in the summer, don’t worry. You can try mountain biking (Downhill and XC), archery, orienteering, hill-walking, climbing, chairlift rides, photography, trail building, guided walks and home cooked food in the log cabin cafe.
We noticed people had stayed there overnight, ready for a day of ski first thing in the morning. Small snug houses were situated near the mountains(called Microlodges). These were very snug, solid and of course well insulated(you are near a cold, ski mountain). We found out these sleep up to 4 people. It is almost like enjoying the outdoors, while having your little bit of comfort indoors. These are just £50 per night. That is an amazing price if you were bring your family on a ski trip for a weekend. It would work out much more reasonable than the typical ski holiday destinations. We saw lots of people in camper vans, which works out at £15 per night per pitch (power, water, showers, drying rooms). You are situated in the heart of the spectacular scenery. If you are feeling very adventurous, you can always camp out and use all the facilities for just £6 per night(kids under 12 free). Anyways enough about the adventures of staying in the location…more about the skiing!!
We arrived and first went to book a lesson(we didn’t even know how to put a ski on so with the fear of looking stupid, we thought a lesson was the best and safest bet). We booked a 2 hour lesson with all the equipment needed for just £60 and it was the best thing we ever did. We arrived up and we were looking around in amazement at the professionals zipping past us. We had an amazing instructor, Kirsty who was well able for two people who had never set foot on a ski slope before. She had her work cut out for her with us two but within 10 minutes of her instructions, any fear we had went away. Before we knew it, we had left the beginner slope and onto the bigger slope.
After a few falls(it’s part of the fun of it), we were stopping, turning and skiing down the slope one after the other. Each time we learned something new and progressed thanks to the amazing instruction. It wasn’t long before Kirsty had us being able to ski with confidence. After our lesson, we were able to stay on the slopes with confidence to practice our skiing. After a while, the legs began to get really tired and we knew it was time to call it a day. A good tired feeling as we got back on the chairlift and enjoyed the surroundings on our ride down. We finished the day sitting by the fire in the cafe drinking a nice cuppa tea…what better way to end an amazing adventure?
DREAM. DISCOVER. EXPLORE
