[Closed] Why do people in the South East come to Aviemore/Glencoe?

Scotland is beautiful? I'd go for no other reason than that

Are you sure they're skiers? Scottish winter climbing and walking both probably get as many people into the hills as skiing and aren't necessarily the same as what's available in the alps etc.

Maybe because they're not all skiists and there's stuff to do when the Skiing is closed and/or too challenging? Tons of families around at the moment, it being half-term. I don't know how costs stack up abroad at this time either.

Anyway, if it's all South East accents they've probably just driven up from Edinburgh.

When we lived doon sooth ,we tied in ski trips with visiting friends and family on the way up and down. 🙂

I've skied the Alps a number of times, for exactly those reasons.

Definitely skiers.

Sorry I should have made that more clear...I 100% understand those who want to climb/walk/ski over a week/weekend. It was more the number who come specifically for the skiing. We always get chatting to loads (west coast blood, can't stop myself 🙂 )

Scotland is beautiful?

You won't get any arguments from me against that logic!

Sorry OP, was this thread just an excuse to get me to post some recent photos?
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/16469879816_59a9a9de5c_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/16469879816_59a9a9de5c_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/r6ort7 ]P1010778[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/22384952@N02/ ]ScotRoutes[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8580/16309927847_96841ea492_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8580/16309927847_96841ea492_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/qRfDjx ]P1010789[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/22384952@N02/ ]ScotRoutes[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7397/16495805985_31d04c4dc6_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7397/16495805985_31d04c4dc6_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/r8Fjq2 ]P1010812[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/22384952@N02/ ]ScotRoutes[/url], on Flickr

[i]You guys are perfectly poised for a short flight or comparable drive to the alps[/i]

Yes, thats why I go to the Alps.
Why people go up there, to that dump* I have no idea.

* 😉

What puzzles me is the sheer number of South East accents I hear.

Every time I go up north it always amazes me how many English accents I hear.
I don't think there's any Scots left in Torridon/Ullapool area. The only people I heard were either English or Polish!

If it's skiers, I have no idea unless families want a relatively easy drive and to avoid the tolls/ferry/tunnel etc.
I'm in the SE and i'd fly into Europe to ski/board but for walking/mountaineering i'd opt for Scotland. In fact i'm trying to squeeze in a trip up there asap.....

What's it like just now scotroutes? This time next week I'll be on a winter skills course at Glenmore Lodge.

What puzzles me is the sheer number of South East accents I hear

is a scottish accent now compulsory?

is a scottish accent now compulsory?

Read the OP in context and then wind your neck in.

Sorry OP, was this thread just an excuse to get me to post some recent photos?

Oh aye, don't get me wrong, it can be fantastic! I was climbing in this last weekend....

(but it's a pretty expensive gamble for those who could otherwise have headed to the alps!)

[img] [/img]

[quote=unknown ]What's it like just now scotroutes? This time next week I'll be on a winter skills course at Glenmore Lodge.Those photos above were last week. It's been a bit warmer these last few days but there was more fresh snow again last night and we are expecting some more over the course of the weekend. Should be plenty of decent snow for snowholing etc. and enough ice around for crampon practice. Upper ski slopes were closed today due to high winds so expect a bit of drifting too.
[quote=jam bo ]

What puzzles me is the sheer number of South East accents I hear

Was thinking the same - two of my work colleges are staying in the back of T5 in a car park somewhere around Aviemore this week having driven up from Hampshire in search of some snowboarding. I love going back to the Cairngorms but did wonder why they didn't go to France.

Read the OP in context and then wind your neck in.

I did, and to me the suggestion is that having a southern accent meant you had to have travelled all the way from the south to get there.

Love.

a southern fairy.

Of course, for those seeking to take offence, go ahead.

not offended. But I don't assume that if I hear a scottish accent in devon that they must be visiting...

I did, and to me the suggestion is that having a southern accent meant you had to have travelled all the way from the south to get there

Aviemore is a wee town. When it goes from 50 people mulling around to 5,000 people mulling around during English school holidays, it's a reasonable assumption that they're not all living in Scotland 🙂

then they must be from that london. carry on.

Anyway, if it's all South East accents they've probably just driven up from Edinburgh.

then they must be from that london. carry on.

Living most of my adult life in England has given me an incredible ability to identify whether an accent is southern, northern or somewhere else 😉

That coupled with them telling me when you get chatting to them in the pub.

Or Edinburgh, like I said above (IIRC, 12% of Edinburghs population identify themselves as English). 😆

Of course, they are also buying all their cars down South. That would be the only explanation for the number plates.

*makes not to start work on my finest posh git southern accent. With a strong whiff off Norfolk farmer.

That coupled with them telling me when you get chatting to them in the pub.

so why didn't you ask them why they came to scotland?

[quote=jam bo ]

That coupled with them telling me when you get chatting to them in the pub.

As to the OP.

I'm not sure. Reckon I'd head to the Pyrenees or similar. But horses for courses, and although not really easier. It's much simpler in a car, you just chuck your stuff in and go until arriving at your destination. No changes, no airport parking, just driving.

Scotland is without doubt blessed with some goergous scenery. But so are many countries. Which has just rekindled my desire to return to the Ordesa Canyon.

so why didn't you ask them why they came to scotland?

If you'd spent 9 hours in a car and you had to tell the family for the second day out of three that the mountain was closed, how would you feel when some chirpy Scot asked you why you'd bothered? 🙂

when some chirpy Scot asked you why you'd bothered

So why Aviemore/Glencoe over an alpine resort?

You're not a real skier until you've skied in Scotland.

I go to the Alps, would never consider Scotland for a skiing break, although I may ski in Scotland whilst doing other things up there generally.

cos you can do this

I saw the guy riding up, but didn't realise he was going to come down the piste.

That coupled with them telling me when you get chatting to them in the pub.

Now I know you're making it up, no one from the SE would talk to a stranger, pub or no 🙂

Now I know you're making it up, no one from the SE would talk to a stranger, pub or no

Plus

some chirpy Scot

Yeah, right.

The whiskey is sooo much better in Scotland

I took my SE accent up there once, twas a snowboard Industry do, we had every kind of weather there is, all on the same day, wind, rain, snow, sleet, hail, sun, got to the point one run, with full face masks and goggles we had to stop purely from the pain of the hail hitting the tip of our unprotected noses, they even gave us a certificate for being up on cairngorm, like it was a mars mission.

scotroutes - Member

Or Edinburgh, like I said above (IIRC, 12% of Edinburghs population identify themselves as English).

And 100% as being from the south east 😉

pedropete - Member
The whiskey is sooo much better in Scotland

The [b]whiskey[/b] is sooo much better in Scotland

Not sure if serious....

Perfectly serious, just can't spell 8O. So should it be spelt with or without the "e"? Can't you tell i'm from the South East

Whisky in Scotland. Remember "e" for Eire and you'll pass the Border Control Spelling Test.*

*In the SNP manifesto, honest! 😀

Bet some were actually fairly local having moved up and settled in the area.

wind, rain, snow, sleet, hail, sun, got to the point one run, with full face masks and goggles we had to stop purely from the pain of the hail hitting the tip of our unprotected noses

Always good to hear of people getting good weather for a change 🙂

wind, rain, snow, sleet, hail, sun, got to the point one run, with full face masks and goggles we had to stop purely from the pain of the hail hitting the tip of our unprotected noses

OP I don't know why people make the journey from the South East to ski there,as you say it's just as easy to get to the Alps.
That quote above reminded me of my one & only Scottish skiing weekend.I went into the Ptarmigan? Restaurant to get a hot drink & warm up.placed my wooly hat on the table & it bounced off,frozen solid 😯 ! I proclaimed in a Lancashire accent, that that was a sign to pack it in for the day..

You don't ever want to do them back to back. I remember getting back from la Tania on a Sat after a week of blue sky's and powder and going to the CG on the Tuesday...Normally there is a stoic acceptance of the conditions,but that was too much.

Normally there is a stoic acceptance of the conditions,but that was too much.

😆

I o have experienced the delights of Cairngorm frozen clothing, from the sub zero rain falling. And the need to snow plough to prevent wind blowing you uphill while waiting for the lift....

I also go for the Edinburgh, and private school crowd, being the southern accent. I spent yesterday with an Orcadian with posh south English accent from attending Edinburgh girls school.

Learnt to ski on Cairngorm, at primary school. That explains a lot!

Rubbish parka jackets, wooly hays frozen solid, football scarves and worse gloves ever!!

But if you can ski on CG, you can ski anywhere.
Not all Edinburgh folk are English. However most of my former colleagues in Edinburgh, and indeed friends, weren't from Edinburgh or close by.

.....I genuinely do wonder why those just as well placed to head to the alps would choose scotland instead for skiing?

Probably for the warm welcome, sophisticated cuisine and cultural diveristy they will experience?

Personally I agree with OP, can't think why anyone would go to Scotland over Europe for anything, let alone a ski trip!

When it's good it can be great , but then there's all the other stuff
I think there is better skiing and boarding at Nevis / Coe / Glenshee and that CGM is set up as a tourist cash cow , but strathspey is a beautiful area

Honestly it's quiet & polite by London / southern terms , lots for families to do so why not ?

Not everybody can be bothered with the euro drive/ high prices in the Alps

ymmv

Probably for the warm welcome, sophisticated cuisine and cultural diveristy they will experience?

Personally I agree with OP, can't think why anyone would go to Scotland over Europe for anything, let alone a ski trip!

More than happy for you to stay in the South.

(you do know that Scotland is part of Europe don't you?)

Maybe they like to experience foreign culture.

Have they still got that weird sit side by side and go up the mountain sideways lift? That was a joy to mount with one foot in snowboard bindings... 😕

Are they missionaries? Come to spread the word love, the union and capitalism?

Have they come to taste the tradional food. Apprently burgers should only be eaten where they were invented, by the McDonalds clan.

Perhaps it's a social service. Them there southerners bring their untold riches to spend so as to keep the poor highlanders in plaid. Bit like in't days o Queen Victoria.

Have they still got that weird sit side by side and go up the mountain sideways lift? That was a joy to mount with one foot in snowboard bindings...

No that's long gone. The old Cliffhanger chair is still a work of art though.

[quote=unknown ]What's it like just now scotroutes? This time next week I'll be on a winter skills course at Glenmore Lodge.
More snow falling (even at street level) today and up to 4" forecast across the hills in the next couple of days. Windy though!

Every time I go up north it always amazes me how many English accents I hear.

My sister and her husband live just outside Aviemore; they're both English, as are pretty much all their 'neighbours'. Actually, our Grandad is Scottish so she's probably more Scottish than most?

More snow falling (even at street level) today and up to 4" forecast across the hills in the next couple of days. Windy though!

Great news - it was a bit thin up there in places on Sunday.

It arrived this morning - 2" or so at street level. Forecast is for high winds again tomorrow but should be good skiing on Wednesday.

Should be good skiing on Wednesday.

Is what I have planned - but ill inlaws may kaybosh it 👿

Thursday may be more likely, but the forecast isn't as good.

Hmmpphh

I've had 4 potential ski days cancelled due to wind so far.

Lots more snow over the last few days. Up to 20" across in the west I believe. Weather is looking good for the Easter weekend and beyond so I suspect the hills will be pretty busy.

I ski in the Alps when I want to bash the pistes.

I ski in Scotland when I want to challenge myself and improve my technique on dodgy snow and in inclement weather.

Wasn't it Whillans who, when asked by a French climber what he thought of the Alps, replied: "It's good practice for Scotland!"

Don't they go up there to be rescued when they go hiking in their shorts in winter?

Lad from London still missing at the moment, presumed to be on Ben Nevis.

^ do they still do the body hunt once the snow has gone?

Depends on a few factors

Not good,PF. Tourist path or round the back?

Tourist path, duckman.

[url= https://heavywhalley.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/big-search-on-ben-nevis-and-welcome-to-rescue-951-easter-winter-warnings-on-the-mountains/ ]Heavy[/url] makes an valid point in his blog about this current situation and the Bank holiday weekend which generally sees a rise in rescues for people who are lacking in basic kit and navigation skills.

peterfile - Member
...So why Aviemore/Glencoe over an alpine resort?

I've given this a lot of thought and the inescapable conclusion is that they are social climbers.

Scotroutes lives there, reflected glory in his presence, eh what?

🙂

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-32135237?utm_content=buffer5c9c7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer ]MCofS say 'stay off the hills'....[/url]

Actually with the bank holiday,can we expect a visit from the bog trotters setting back relations years to make some point about rights of way in another country?

pfft wtf would the MCofS know anyway?!?!? hoody, trackies, trainers, bottle of Buckie - sorted.

people from the south east? oh bad luck. I find if you just ignore them, they'll be happy, as it's just like back home on the tube.

Looking forward to some skiing on Cairngorm early next week. Let it snow.

I'm hoping for a day at Laggan re-opening... 8)