Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 15 on 18/7/2004.

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Room with a view

CairnGorm Mountain has reinvented itself as a destination for all seasons. Dominic Roskrow reports

Damn the tabloid journalist in me! I just can’t help myself. Tell me that winters just aren’t consistent enough to make ski-ing in Scotland worthwhile and every pun tumbles out like I’m Lou Grant or someone – you know the sort of thing; the situation being ‘snow joke’, the resort having ‘snow future’ and weather being a ‘no show means no snow’ ad nauseum. And it cannot be denied that at least where the weather’s concerned, there is a problem.

For Aviemore, at the heart of Scotland’s ski industry, patchy and/or unpredictable snow patterns make life very difficult indeed. And up CairnGorm Mountain, something of a rethink has been necessary.

This year for instance, the snow threatened not to come at all. Then the whole winter’s worth turned up in February and was still there way into April, making the season a distinctly skewed affair.

But if there’s an air of despondency over the resort, it was well and truly hidden when I visited. Indeed, Aviemore is undergoing a quite astounding facelift. And up on the mountain, while watching determined late-season ski enthusiasts battle wind, ice and cloud, I’m told that three times as many people now visit the mountain facilities in summer as they do in winter.

The purpose of the trip is to see the stunning Ptarmigan (pronounced tarmigan) Restaurant, which is open on a daily basis throughout the year for family meals and light bites, but which transforms itself in to something very special over the summer months.

“When you see it duri.....

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By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Best of Scotland

Page number : 66