Cairngorm Mountain resort needs to move away from reliance on snow, say bosses

The chief executive of the Cairngorm Mountain resort has said the business model must move away from reliance on snow and “make sure the activities we’ve got are year-round”.

Mike Gifford discussed the need to offer activities which do not rely on snow when he appeared before the Public Audit Committee at the Scottish Parliament.

He said the business model had become too snow-dependent, which has contributed to losses.

“I’ve been in the ski industry for about 25 to 30 years now,” he told the MSPs. “Thirty years ago, we were discussing how there’s going to be no snow in five years’ time. It does come in cycles – one of the best seasons we had in a long time was 2020.

“Going forwar,d we need to diversify. We’ve done the slope for mountain biking and adventure play areas and we’ve put in a campervan parking area. What I want to do going forward is to enhance all of those and make sure they’re all running well.”

He also provided an update on plans for a large toboggan ride, which were announced in April this year, and is hoped to be completed by summer 2026.

He said: “The toboggan run will certainly help. I believe the one here in Edinburgh ran throughout the winter almost fully booked. If you go on the website just now it says there is no walk-ins at all, you must pre-book.

“We want to make sure the activities we’ve got are year-round, so it doesn’t matter if we’ve got snow on the ground or not.

MSPs were told the arrival of snow is getting later in winter due to climate change PA Media

“We have some designers coming in two weeks’ time. We are hoping we can put the longest (toboggan ride) on in the UK in, that’s the plan. What we need to do is work with the designers to ensure that the ground we have will work for that. We also need to be sensitive to other users on the mountain as well.”

The committee had met to discuss the repairs and potential reopening of the Cairngorm funicular railway.

The railway shut in 2018 for repairs. The work began in April 2021, and it reopened to the public in January 2023 before closing again in August due to snagging issues. The railway returned to service in February this year.

The committee met to ensure the future of the funicular and that the issues were addressed. They learnt the previous business model had meant the funicular rarely made profit.

Stuart Black, chief executive for development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which owns the Cairngorm Estate where the funicular operates, also put this down to weather conditions.

He said: “There were periods in the early 2010s when profit was made. It was relatively modest I think, at best around £400,000-£500,000 a year.

“At that point, it really needed good skiing weather; it was very dependent on the snow. That’s what we’re trying to move away from to give it much more year-round appeal and less dependence.

“The double challenge with that is that the snow is coming later and later. It used to be that there was snow around about Christmas time that would last through to beyond Easter. Now what’s tending to happen with climate change and weather, it’s coming mid-February, and it’s then going to March.”

Sandra Dunbar, director of corporate services at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, also confirmed the years where profit was made was during periods of snow cover.

She said the new business model working with Cairngorm Mountain with less reliance on snow sports will benefit the progress of the company.

She said: “Between the period of 2008-2014, four out of seven years the company actually made a profit.

“Largely, those profits were in periods and years where there was good snow cover.

“The work that we are undertaking with CMSL (Cairngorm Mountain) is to ensure there is a diversified product offering, not the reliance just on snow sports, but all year round attraction and more resilience, as well as cost reduction measures.

“We are comfortable that there will be a more sustainable business model going forward.”