Promising start to ski season

Dec 31 2010 by Greg Christison, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

SNOW sports in rural Perthshire have enjoyed a major trade boost from the big freeze, it emerged yesterday.

While the cold snap continues to heap misery on many businesses across the region, Glenshee Ski Centre has found itself positioned on anything but the economic downward slope.

Lying on the border of the Big County and Aberdeenshire, the venue has been attracting thousands of skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts to its facilities each day.

Speaking to the PA yesterday, company director Stewart Davidson claimed he has noticed a “huge difference” in comparison to previous seasons.

He said: “It has been a very good week for us, we have had 2500 people through the door on Tuesday and about the same on Wednesday.

“We have been skiing since November, it is certainly the best early start I can remember and I’ve been here 21 years.”

The 2000-acre resort, which attracts half of its custom from Tayside and half from Aberdeenshire, suffered access problems during the severe spells of weather in mid-December, but Mr Davidson claimed the overall scenario had “generally been fine”.

Refusing to be drawn on whether the promising start would lead to increased profits, the businessman added: “The snow could clear up next week, I will have to wait until the end of the season to answer that.”

The centre is widely regarded as a key feature of Highland Perthshire’s winter economy, employing 14 full-time and 60 part-time staff, offering 21 lifts and 36 runs.

Visitors to the slopes were able to enjoy their earliest start to the season in years after heavy snowfall and low temperatures allowed the centre to open its doors on November 26 rather than its typical December start.

Mr Davidson said that Glenshee is expected to remain open until March.