SCOTLAND’S winter sports resorts need £10 million to help them stay open when there is a lack of natural snow, claims the head of its promotional body.
The five resorts have now closed after suffering one of the worst seasons ever.
A lack of snow, strong winds and mild weather all affected the five resorts, with some being hit harder than others.
Glencoe Mountain was the last of the centres to remain open, but it shut to skiers and boarders last Sunday. It had hoped to make it through to Monday, but were thwarted by the conditions.
Andy Meldrum, chairman of national body Ski Scotland, said £10m invested across the winter sports resorts would “transform” Scottish skiing.
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He said the total number of skier days for the five areas was expected to be around 55,000 – one of the lowest in recent years.
Mr Meldrum, who runs Glencoe Mountain, said his own resort could guarantee skiing for 300 to 400 people a day if it received £5m to put in the right infrastructure.
He said: “The answer to Scottish skiing is simple. It is not just a case of having snow-making cannons .It is about getting the right infrastructure to them – the pipes and pumps – so that snow can be generated for beginner and intermediate slopes at the press of a button and at temperatures below minus 2.5C.
“The rest of Europe has it and we need it too. Across the five resorts £10m would transform Scottish skiing with the proper infrastructure. This year there will be something like 50,000 to 60,000 skier days – with only The Lecht having a good season.
“They got the best of the snow and have accounted for about half of the skier days’ total.”
Mr Meldrum said that while not the worst season in the centre’s history, it was among its top three poorest.
Susan Smith, of Cairngorm Mountain, described the recent winter conditions as “unprecedented in recent times”.
Glencoe, Nevis Range, Cairngorm, Glenshee and The Lecht used snow-making machines to keep a limited number of lower slopes open.
But Mr Meldrum said: “Natural snow didn’t arrive in any volume until the beginning of February and even that only hung around for a couple of weeks before melting again. Snow then returned in mid March and we had a decent run of things closing for the season on 21 April.”
He added: “It won’t be the worst season, but it will be up there in the top three poorest seasons with less than 10,000 skier days for the winter. The 2016-17 season was the worst season in history and we had just 4,600 skier days. This season we had 9,500.”
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A skier day means one person who skis or snowboards on one day. Many of the same people return to the slopes several times during the season.
Other seasons have had skier days running to six figures. Across all five mountain resorts, the 2012-13 season had 290,996 skier days and there were 235,303 in 2013-14 when Scottish centres had deeper snow than some Alpine resorts.
In 2010, skiing was still possible at Cairngorm until midsummer in June.
Ms Smith, interim chief executive of Cairngorm Mountain, near Aviemore, said: “All five Scottish ski resorts struggled due to the mild weather and lack of snow.
“However, we were open for 31 snow sports days out of a probable 140 days. It’s fair to say that last winter was unprecedented in recent times.”
Glenshee in Aberdeenshire was particularly hit by a lack of snow.
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Sarah McGuire, finance manager at Glenshee, said: “In terms of runs open it is one of our worst seasons. We have only managed 24 days opening this season compared to around 100 in a good year and an average of about 80. We just seem to have missed the snow when it has fallen. We’ve been on the wrong side.”
Trafford Wilson, chief executive of Snowsport Scotland, said: “Despite challenging weather conditions, snow-making machines have allowed most ski resorts to open early and to operate beginner slopes and ski schools for the most of the season.”
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