With early snow predicted this season, is the UK a ski haven in waiting?
Thursday, 27 October 2011
The British winter, just what exactly is it good for? Christmas aside, the days and nights blend into one endless cycle of grey misery, a frozen collage of the flu, traffic chaos, leaving for work before it's light outside and infuriating battles with iced windscreens. However, that could all be about to change, after the steady and consistent snowfall of the past couple of winters. The very reason the occasional blizzard is the cause of such giddy excitement across the land is that they are so very rare. With the onset of snow promised even earlier this season, anticipation is already building. Could we see Britain soon rivalling France and Italy as a destination for luxury ski holidays sometime in the not too distant future?
It has happened before, if on an admittedly far smaller scale. Back in 2008, the recession's bite combined with the recent snowfall created a number of viable alternatives to expensive adventures on the continent. The UK's hills regularly opened when the heavens did, to the delight of many snow sports fans. A number of snow dusted hills are often run by local ski clubs who are affiliated with artificial slopes and who tend to use farm and national park land. Two such hills are located in the Lake District, another is in Northumberland, a further three can be found in County Durham and one snowy pass is situated in Wales.
For the moment, however, it all remains a rather amateur pursuit; more a celebration of ingenuity, camaraderie and the human spirit rather than a serious attempt to gatecrash the skiing mainstream. The runs typically extend no further than 800 m and, rather than craggy peaks and dizzying drops, patrons are more likely to find themselves gliding through farmland and meadows. The pistes are essentially a case of making your way back to the bottom while the off-piste obstacles come in the form of stray sheep.
While officials and managing directors at Chamonix, Val D'isere and St Anton can rest easy, at least for the time being, three resorts in Cumbria; Raise, Swinhope and Yad Moss already have permanent lifts and ski lodges in place. If this is to be taken as a sign of things to come, we could be seeing luxury ski chalets springing up across the UK in increasing numbers before too long.
Should the snow start to come more regularly and heavily around Britain, logic would suggest that Mount Snowdon and areas in the Scottish Highlands would be the best places for UK skiing to properly take off. This, however, may well not be the case; the majority of skiing hotspots already in existence are actually located in the north of England. The most successful, Swinhope Moor, in Weardale, County Durham, already boasts over 250 members who ski regularly on the slopes with plenty of other non-members frequently turning up for a day pass.
Though the slops begin in a wide, open and gentle fashion, there are sufficient gullies and varied enough terrain to test intermediate skiers; even the experts might find parts of the slopes something of a challenge. Though there are no official pistes, runs over 1 km are a genuine possibility. Swinhope, quite simply, is as close to alpine conditions as is currently available in Britain.
Until the climate changes on a permanent, or at least more predictable, basis, skiing in Britain will remain something of a novelty. Should the more temperamental patterns of seasonal change become more consistent however, than areas of Britain could soon be found on the Crystal Ski website, rubbing shoulders with the best pistes Europe has to offer.
Bring on the crisp, crunchy, brilliant white of real snow and watch us whizz around the slopes!
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