2009 January

Aviemore is based in the highlands of Scotland, with impressive mountain views, and surrounded by country-side it stands 26,000 feet above rural farmland. The area is renowned for skiing, having recently had 2 European Level Competitions on its snowy peaks in the last two months. The ski resorts success, with professional skiing has also lead to success with tourists, having 12,000 people hitting the slopes each month. These massive numbers are also attributed to snowboarding, with boarding specific slaloms on one side of the mountains.

Aviemore recently commissioned a $4 Million state of the art ski lift that can travel up to 25 miles per hour, withstand winds in excess of 110 miles per hour, and has a total weight of 450 tonnes. The amazing structure travels over 15 miles and is certainly an amazing sight for any avid skier. Aviemores tourist based facilities are also highly impressive with 900 square feet, and a verging patio area that looks down the 26,000 feet mountain face.

Aviemore is an unfortunate to only have snow for 7 months in the year, ruling it out of hosting some of the worlds greatest competitions, and really placing Scotland up their with France, Switzerland and now Bulgaria as one the top skiing destinations around the world. The skiing destination has recently hosted the snowboarding world freestyle championships, where the facility had to compete with many countries where the sport has far greater uptake than in Scotland. Scotlands success would have came as a result of many factors, however it was said that the accommodation facilities were said to be significantly more robust than other countries that had placed similar bids.

With a thriving economy that survives largely of the tourism industry, Aviemore had the facilities to bed over 10,000 people a night, significantly higher than any other bid. The reasons for this was largely down to its proximity to a local town that was also able to provide bed and breakfast accommodation, which ensured that more tickets could be sold, and exposure maximised. Despite this, only 21% of ticket buyers were Scottish, leaving the rest of the 79% to fly in from around the world.

The success of the tournament has lead to speculation of Aviemore building on its initial success to host more tournaments in the coming years, and with this the value of property has risen and the hotel industry is also becoming savvy to the prospect of high demand in the area. The Aviemore mountains have an average gradient that well exceeds most skiing locations in the west of Europe making Aviemore the place to visit for a European Skiing trip, providing the time of year is correct.

With only 7 months snow, Aviemore is considering a contained facility, where it will continue to provide skiing and snowboarding indoors. The thought of this, also would raise ideas and suggestions as to how they intend to go about this, and on what scale? Would they be looking to compete with the indoor facilities in Berlin, or would they be looking for something basic? The fact is, speculation as to a large scale indoor facility is mounting, and this is certainly something that would benefit the hotel industry in the area that is growing rapidly, however experiences a less-busy spell for 5 months in the year where Aviemore is in no condition to allow snowboarders or skiers to hit the slopes. Despite this freestyle snowboarding still continues, where the snow is artificially maintained in a half-pipe with which the snowboarders can practice and perfect tricks in a similar way to skateboarders.

If you have never been to Aviemore then I recommend you visit, whether or not you are a skier. The fact is, the views are amazing, the fresh clear air is refreshing and the people are fantastic. If you have never skied before, then what better place to learn than Aviemore.