MBSA
There’s a well-known acronym in business called MBWA, which stands for “Management By Walking About”. In other words the importance of getting out and seeing what is actually going on at the shop floor. Here at Cairngorm we call this MBSA or “Management By Skiing About”. During the week my diary is normally fairly full, but I try and spend time at the weekends getting out and about and meeting as many visitors as possible as well as getting round the staff. Occasionally it’s possible to get out during the week and today, the first weekday of half term, was an ideal opportunity to see how things were going. We did not get off to a good start; the overnight forecast was for light winds. However when we arrived on site, winds were too strong for any tows or uplift to operate in, apart from the railway. Fortunately the wind did drop and we were able to get all our lifts on where snow permitted, but we lost a bit of time in the morning. By mid- morning the hard packed snow had begun to soften which helped considerably in providing our skiing visitors with excellent skiing as the day went on. Below are a few photos of what it was like. We expect the snow to harden overnight once again and it may take a while for this to soften, but let’s hope the weather does what it says it is going to, in which case we should have another good day! Thanks for the feedback on earlier blogs - all most welcome and useful.
February 12th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Agree this was a fantastic day to be in high places and the snow was good. The photos barely do it justice.
Could I please make a request for some organisation of the queues. The queues were extending up the pistes in single file, at times appraoching 80m above the tow. That was 80m which could have been skied rather than sidestepped. Some policing or organisation of rows may be useful. if manpower is the problem would it be possible to mark or paint lanes in the snow? And some policing of the young Turks who were queue jumping would be much appreciated.
Overall though, a great day, these are just minor gripes, I hope there are many more like it this season.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
80m of queues on a weekday? This is probably the reason why I never ski in Scotland. Last time was at Glenshee. Never again. Queue for at least 10mins for a 1min run! And the lift passes are not any cheaper than in the Alps. I’d rather save my money for a week of good snow, efficient lifts (which don’t close when there is a wee bit of wind!) and brilliant runs. Soz guys. Happy skiing/boarding…
February 15th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Alan,
I think the 80m queue is the point that is being made – if this was a queue in the Alps it would be about 8 m with the usual battle to get in front. Scottish skiers have always had strong queue etiquette and it does present a problem on the Ptarmigan tow. We have tried lots of ideas, but as soon as it is left unmanaged it tends to go back to the old problem. On the point of mid week queues- they have been very reasonable during the busy half term, even popular tows like the CAS the queue has been non existent all week- At week ends it does tend to be busier, but the normal bottle neck is getting on the slopes in the first place.
A lot of people make the mistake of comparing the Alps to Scotland – in the early days this was probably relevant when the cost of travelling abroad was more expensive and the snow at home far more reliable. People used to travel to Scotland to ski for a week’s holiday. These days the market has changed and Scottish skiers tend to take short breaks when the conditions and weather allow, supplementing their Alpine holiday. The reality is that the costs of running a ski operation in Scotland is almost definitely higher than in the Alps, where the conditions and the market tend to be more stable. The fact is there is still a healthy niche market for Scottish skiing and we do still get some excellent days with no queues. It can be a great place to learn and for most people it’s just good to get on snow for the odd day even if our main ski holidays tend to be In the Alps or North America.
Bob
February 17th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Cheers Bob, I support your points. Skiing in Scotland is not like skiing in N America or the Alps, but on the good days its still damn good. I have skied elsewhere in Scotland this year and Cairngorm has been the best organised and most reliable.
The above were minor gripes. Thanks for providing some really great days on the hill, particularly over the last week when the snow was good, the weather fantastic and it was great to be in high places in good company.