I am still working full on at the moment with the change of ownership  as well as some internal rerstructuring. I Promise to come back and share some of the thinking with you, but at the moment its just too early to do this………back to the mountain ….

When the snow melts we are left with too many plastic bottles and rubbish throughout the area,  although we get all the staff involved in litter sweeps, particullarly around the buildings  we are now taking part in a  ” Big Spring Claen” inititiave and would like to encourage everyone  to get involved.

CairnGorm Mountain in association with the Ski Club of Great Britain are inviting the public to come and take part in the “Big Spring Clean”. This massive rubbish sweep of the CairnGorm Ski Area will take place on Sunday 1st June 2008. A great opportunity to do your bit for the environment and the mountain. Come and resigter in the Base Station at Coire Cas any time between 10am and 2pm on Sunday 1st June 2008.

It’s a fact, that one cigarette butt pollutes upwards of 1 cubic metre of water, a coke can takes over 200 years to decompose and even orange peel will not disappear in less than a year. All these items, and many more are found on CairnGorm’s slopes and path network along with the ubiquitous crisp packet and plastic bottle. All volunteers will be given bin bags, gloves and litter pickers when they reigster as well as a respect the mountain wristband. There will also be a prize for the person picking up the most litter plus free tea and cake for all volunteers.  The ‘Big Spring Clean’, is part of the Ski Club’s Respect the Mountain campaign (www.respectthemountain.com). We are  delighted to be a host venue and it’s a great opportunity for everyone to have a fun day out in the mountains whilst contributing to the well-being of the land by picking up as much litter as possible. The event, as well as helping the sustainability of the mountains and the wildlife, aims to raise awareness about responsible tourism and send a message to all mountain visitors about the seriousness of dropping litter. Similar projects run in the French Alps have seen shocking results with twenty tons of rubbish being picked up by volunteers in forty-one resorts in 2007.  Caroline Stuart Taylor, Chief Executive of the Ski Club explained the reason behind event: “Since the launch of our Respect the Mountain campaign in 2004 the Ski Club has been proactive in educating and raising awareness about what people can do to try and safeguard mountain environments. The ‘Big Spring Clean’ will help to raise awareness in our own country, promoting sustainability in the Scottish resorts and encourage mountain users to do their bit to help preserve their mountains.” 

For more information on the ‘Big Spring Clean’ visit www.skiclub.co.uk or for more information on the Respect the Mountain Campaign visit www.respectthemountain.com

Bob

 At this time of year our ranger team organise a staff sweepstake on how long it will take for all the snow to disappear from the Headwall of the CAS. Up until recent years there have been records of snow patches lasting through the summer in the Cairngorms, but this is now very unusual given the changes to our climate that we are currently experiencing. The earliest day all the snow has melted is the 7^th June and the latest has been the 28^th July. It is  possible to get fresh snow on the tops any month of the year  and  I know at least one person who has skied  (albeit on small patches of snow at times ) every month of the year.  It is not unusual for keen skiers to find a patch  on midsummer’s day . 

Next week we have a meeting with the other ski areas to look at how we can work together to help promote and develop Scottish skiing. These meetings take place in the spring and autumn.  This year we ended the season with just over 62,000 skier days, that’s around 37% of the Scottish ski market. Last year we had around 50% of the market, but that was unusual as our normal market-share is approximately 32%. 

Through the summer I plan to post blogs to keep you updated on what’s happening here on the mountain, but not quite as frequently as in the winter. We will be working on some major modifications to the web site – your feedback has been most helpful in telling us what does and does not work.  Thank you Bob   

Monday, the sun is shining and temperature first thing was already in double figures. The top car park is nearly full with Bank Holiday visitors and there are around a couple of hundred skiers/boarders enjoying the last of the snow.  We are no longer running the Cas tow .  The weather over the week end was not as bad as had been forecast although it was very windy on Sunday morning.  Most activities went to plan – but we cancelled the hog roast on the basis of Sunday’s original forecast and the snow hole and ice castle melted by Sunday!We plan to close for skiing for  the rest of the week and taking into consideration the weather forecast we are not optimistic about the week end – lots of warm weather all week.  We will have to make a call one way or the other, about Wednesday. …….. It may be time to dig out the golf clubs if you have not done this already.As we move towards the summer this is another busy time for all staff here at Cairn Gorm. We have already started our maintenance programme and have a lot of painting and sorting out to do following the long winter. A programme of summer walks and activities has already begun.

We are carrying out some restructuring   with very much the medium/long term in mind as well as a strong commitment to the skiing side of the business. … Back to the desk… at least on  a bank holiday the phone does not ring! 

Bob