h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just to confirm that you did spell Blairgowrie right although you don't need the capital G.

With regard to the others ... Aviewmore, Aonach Mor and The Lecht ...

Aviemore is slightly bigger than Glenshie and has some fairly testing runs although as I last visited when I was 8 I don't think this is a fair reflection of what it's like now.

Aonach Mor is basically down the side of Ben Nevis but I've never skied there so couldn't vouch for it's quality. Those who I know who have done it say much the same as for all Scottish "Resorts" ... you can generally ski the whole area in a day assuming a) all the runs are open, b) it's not raining, c) you don't catch frost bite on your first lift up.

The Lecht (about an hours drive from Glenshie) is the most bare ar$e place I've ever been. Went to Glenshie for a long weekend a few years ago and there was no snow but the PR Gurus at the Lecht had been telling all and sundry that they had loads. Ice interspersed with rocks and heather was about as good as it got ... cost a fortune too.

As for the Piece de Resistance ... Hillend Dry Ski Slope Edinburgh ... responsible for more broken thumbs than something that gives you a lot of broken thumbs. I learnt there and to give its due, skiing on toothbrushes is damn hard so when you do eventually get onto snow it's an absolute joy!

I've done various foriegn places as well but each one only once so can't really give an accurate view ...
St Moritz (Switzerland)- Expensive, expensive, fantastic skiing, expensive and expensive ... Cresta Run, Horse Racing on the Lake, Annual Ski-Marathon
Val d'Isere - rocked in general but was too young to make the most of it all
Meribel - superb ski area ... largest in world ... links to Courchavel and Val Thorens for a huge amount of Piste ... Courchavel v speny, Meribel night life fairly crazy.

Not sure if any of this is valid, relevant helpful or whatever but there we have it!

All handy!

I was under the impression that there were more lifts at Glenshee than any where else in Scotland (at least that's what they said).

As to Meribel having the largest Ski area in the World - I guess lots of places claim this but I thought that The Super Dolomiti region was pretty damn big (not that I've skiied there...yet!).

I will create a "mini-article" with your comments about Meribel/St.Moritz and ask for comments.

I think there are more lifts but a lot of them lead to the same place and quite often you need to catch 2 to get to the top of a slope ... I may be wrong though.

As for biggest ski area in the world, The Trois Vallees seems pretty convinced that it is but then whether that's the largest ski area in square kilometres or the largest amount of Piste I've no idea!

Went to Schladming which is pretty big, and they will have something like 600 kms of Piste next season! Which they claim as the biggest as of then so.... It just goes to show....

In my experience, I'd say Cairngorm near Aviemore is the best resort in the UK. I've been there twice, and enjoyed both times immensely. They have a good selection of runs and they are also well maintained. I'd also recommend the chair lift for the fantastic scenery.

The Lecht? That's not a ski resort, it's like some child made his own slide by throwing down some cold water on ice, it's terrible! The runs, although very varied, are very icy, and they don't keep the runs well maintained. But on the good side, the hard run is very difficult, I'll give credit where it's due.

But you're all forgetting the best dry ski slope ever, Hillend! Located in Edinburgh, it's been voted the best dry ski slope in Europe. It's where I had my skiing lessons, which were first class. My skiing isn't, it's been too long, but I can't fault Hillend. Most enjoyable.

Hmmm - I can see that all the Skiers are coming out of the woodwork and thinking about their next trips!!!

If you write a short article about your past trips I will link from the Ski Resorts Page. Alternatively, you could put text of an article into a Forum and I'll make it into an entry, link, and include your name....

Glenshee has the largest ski area in scotland in terms of ski-able meters of runs. Glasmoll(?!?) is the best run (a redish black) but is rarely open due to the state of the chairlift and the lack of snow over the last few seasons. The Tiger, the most evil of Glenshee's runs, is a near vertical (often unpeasted) Black run with one of the oldest chairlifts known to man. This little beauty is a one-man chair that litteraly drags your feet through the snow and rocks on the way up! Conditions at Glenshee vary from cold and windy to cold and windy often with visability of up to 100m. That said a bad days skiing in Scotland is better than not skiing at all.

Up to 100m? Yeah that'd be nice!!!

I did love it though - all of 19 years ago...