To MTB'ers who know Scotland who Snowboard/Ski

bartiebat

Hiya,

Have a nipper due so can't go abroard this season to snowboard, however parents have agreed to come to Scotland to babysit. Given that we're going to have to book this way to far in advance & there may not be any snow, are there any Scotish resorts near MTB trail centres so we can take bikes as a back up?

Thanks
Kx

CitizenLee

The Lecht is right next to Glenlivet Trail Centre, and also has it's own bike track.

Cairngorm / Aviemore is near Laggan and also has lots of natural routes nearby.

Glencoe and Ft Bill both have bike tracks.

Lots of places to go around Glenshee too.

As a Scottish snowboarder of 17 years, I'd say deffo plan for a biking trip

Colinthecop

If the family are in tow i'd be tempted to head to Aviemore - for Cairngorm*. There's a bit more for them to do compared to the other resorts whilst you're having fun.


Albeit Cairngorm is so badly run it hurts to recommend it.... :roll:

My summary of the others -

The Lecht is great, great staff and well run. Not much choice of terrain and not as snow-sure as the other resorts. Decent enough food.
Nevis - Ok I guess
Glencoe - Ok I guess but the food is crap, terrain is not too bad, had the best snow this year.
Glenshee - Good choice of terrain.

bartiebat

Perfect! Thanks all

bartiebat

Is Glenlivet open in the winter by the way?

CitizenLee

bartiebat wrote:

Is Glenlivet open in the winter by the way?

It has all weather surface so I think so.

Ask them here:

https://www.facebook.com/GlenlivetMount ... railCentre

UH DH

Glenlivet is open all year, but access to it is a bit patchy because of it's remoteness, and it's slightly harder to reach now as the main road to it got washed away in recent flooding...

Rundown of the ski areas:

Nevis Range, going to be busy, tends to have decent coverage, Witches Trails are open year round, good food, plenty of local accommodation.

Cairngorm, last time I skiied there it was ok, but that was before the funicular railway, so a while ago. Centre seems a bit past it, but seem to keep getting a lot of snow recently. Trails in the area, nothing at Cairngorm, but Laggan Wolftrax is about 30min away, Glenlivet 45min away, and there's supposedly a bunch of more natural stuff down around Loch Morlich.

Lecht, look to the guy above for skiing conditions. They do have trails, but they're closed over winter, so your nearest would be Glenlivet. Glenlivet has nice trails, but I'm not sure I can recommend them during winter. The red is a long way into the middle of nowhere, no easy escape route, and a lot of it is open and exposed on mountains. Not the place to be in bad weather. The blue is a lot closer in to the cafe and more covered and in the forest.

Glencoe, the food is ok, never skiied there, and cycling is limited. They have 2 downhills, but they close end of september, usually. Other than that, you're restricted to the West Highland Way, which is just a north/south option, though if you're fit, going north and trying out the Devils Staircase, I think it's called. Nevis Range and the Witches trails are 30-45min up the road, and accommodation for Glencoe is negligable.

Glenshee, as far as I know has no biking options nearby.