Fort William DH World Cup....tips

AllezAllezAllez

I'm keen to go and watch the World Cup DH next year with a few mates.

What's it like staying in Fort William? Looking at the official web site you need to get a shuttle bus to the course.

Any tips on where to stay? I'm thinking of camping and would like to be close to the main action.

Are there long queues for the ski lift? Do you need to use them?

Any tips welcome.

Lewis A

What I do is use the lift on the Saturday, walk down the mountain. On Sunday I normally stay at the bottom and try to get a seat in the grandstand. B&B and shuttle to site. Ski lift queues on Sunday can be scary, but if you go at the right time aren't too bad.

HebdenBiker

Red Squirrel camp site at Glencoe. Brilliant pub nearby (Clachaig Inn) and lively site that allows fires. Approx 20 min drive to ski lifts.

Northwind

It takes way longer than 20 minutes to drive from the clachaig to nevis range, even on a quiet day.

Question is, do you want to be in fort william for race night? It's supposed to be good chat but it does change the options a bit. If it were me, I'd stay in spean bridge, cycle down to nevis range (spean bridge is closer to nevis than fort william, and usually quieter and cheaper, riding means not waiting for shuttle buses though you could do that too, they do a shuttle from the commando memorial) but that does miss out on the other stuff.

Willrideforcake

I use a campsite in Fort William itself. On the Friday I drive in and use the mini shuttle bus from the Highland centre. Saturday and Sunday I use the shuttle bus that goes from Lochaber High School. The gondola queues can be a bit scary, but get there early and they're not too bad. I usually head up on the Sunday morning and bimble my way down to watch the action from the grandstand.
Most importantly though, and I really can't stress this enough, is TAKE MIDGE REPELLENT! Some swear by Smidge, I use Avon Skin So Soft. Sure, it leaves me smelling like bottom of my granny's handbag, but I've remained bite-free for the last two years!

rockmonkeysc

Go up the weekend before and watch the BDS as well.

Northwind

Go multi-layer on the midge stuff. Dark clothes supposedly don't attract them as much (unconvinced). Then skin-so-soft (you can get it in most outdoors shops). It reduces the bites but doesn't do that much repelling- so, you can then add the repellant of your choice, smidge or whatever (I use jungle formula super-mega-strength, the stuff that melts plastic). Once you get up above the treeline they're usually less of a problem but further down can be a nightmare.

Oh and a net, if you want to spend much time in the forest Well worth feeling like a fanny

Willrideforcake

Northwind wrote:

Oh and a net, if you want to spend much time in the forest Well worth feeling like a fanny

Amen to that!

hobbo31

Willrideforcake wrote:

I use a campsite in Fort William itself. On the Friday I drive in and use the mini shuttle bus from the Highland centre. Saturday and Sunday I use the shuttle bus that goes from Lochaber High School. The gondola queues can be a bit scary, but get there early and they're not too bad. I usually head up on the Sunday morning and bimble my way down to watch the action from the grandstand.
Most importantly though, and I really can't stress this enough, is TAKE MIDGE REPELLENT! Some swear by Smidge, I use Avon Skin So Soft. Sure, it leaves me smelling like bottom of my granny's handbag, but I've remained bite-free for the last two years!

First class advice, good camp site and easy to ride up on cycle track as well from there, last year was the first I missed, but made up for it by going to Andorra no gondola queues, no entry fees, 30 deg sun and no midges, back this year to Fork William