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| Reviews: 12 |
| North Yorkshire |
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  4 of 5, "Love it." 25/03/2008 @ 08:23:33 |
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| 3 members have given this review an average rating of 4.33 of 5 |
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| Revision #1 (Last edited: 26/03/2008 @ 08:08:51) |
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| Price Paid |
| £25/day lift pass |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Independent |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
The Scots are a fiercely patriotic bunch. But centuries of nationalism can sometimes cloud their judgement, and consequently when a Scot tells me that they’ve got world class riding on their doorstep, I can’t help but also think ‘yes, and you guys also voted Michelle McManus as a world class recording artist’.
So it was that with a mix of trepidation and cynicism I headed up to Fort William for the Easter weekend, my bike and walking boots also stashed on the car just in case the snow wasn’t playing. Grabbing accommodation was a doddle – four of us got a functional if unattractive chalet for next to nothing at the Inchree Centre, pretty well equidistant between Glencoe and Fort William. The views over the loch from the chalet were stunning, as indeed they always are in the Highlands. If you’ve never been you don’t know what you’re missing.
The resort at Glencoe is easily accessible from the main A82 and welcomes you with a modern and spacious café. From here you take a slightly rickety 4 man chair up to the base of the resort, before a very gentle and well maintained (are you guys listening Nevis Range?) button tow glides you to a traverse across to the main runs. There aren’t many of them, but frankly, who cares? For an experienced boarder they are an absolute hoot.
Now, a quick disclaimer. Harking back to stereotypes again, Scotland truly does reward the brave. If what you’re after is groomed motorway pistes and comfy chair lifts then please go away now and come back to this review after you’ve got another four or five weeks under your belt. The pistes at Glencoe are not even. There’s rocks all over the place. Patches of ice wrestle for your attention with pockets of powder and natural hits. You need to have your wits about you. High winds and zero visibility arrive from nowhere and disappear just as fast. But non of this mattered to me as I hung to the far left of the resort through the eerily deserted Happy Valley run, straying off the slopes and skidding over rocks to find fresh snow and steep turns.
Yes, I was knackered from riding t-bars all day, and yes on a bank holiday Monday the lift queues were starting to annoy. And yes the mountain café is rubbish and its £3 portions of chips a rip off. And yes, sadly the weather is totally unpredictable. But the fact is that the wild terrain, stunning views, creative line finding and total lack of pretence about the place totally makes up for it. To quote an oft resuscitated thread on here, Glencoe Rocks! |
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| Strengths |
| Terrain, accesibility, friendliness |
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| Hot Spots |
| Clach Aig Inn in Glencoe is legendary for its atmosphere on a Friday and Saturday night. Fort William is a dump and best avoided - bring your own car and stay in one of the surrounding villages. |
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| Weaknesses |
| Weather. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Fernie - you ride the area rather than the pistes |
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| Reviews: 3 |
| West Yorkshire |
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| 4 of 5, "Glencoe, McDonald Hotel @ Kinlochleven" 26/03/2007 @ 09:15:42 |
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| 2 members have given this review an average rating of 2.5 of 5 |
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| Price Paid |
| £38 per night B&B |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Independant, stayed @ McDonald Hotel - Kinlochleven |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
Headed to Scotland for a cheeky weekend away, managed to find a great deal and booked this hotel through Latedeals.com for the measley sum of £38 for the room incl of Breakfast.
Great location at the head of Loch Leven....amazing road on both sides of the Loch to reach the hotel, imagine a Rally Stage and you won't go far wrong. When the sun is setting over the distant mountains the views are amazing, we arrived having snowboarded all day at the Coe.
Stopped for one night, rooms were clean, warm and comfortable...hotel staff friendly and passionate about the Mountains.
The Hotel, Bothy Bar served an excellent selection of Real Ales and Tennents Cask (Ember Ale?) a new one on me, but a cracking draught none the less, very drinkable.......
Food, first class - breakfast plentiful - served a range of Continental Fruit style and cereal - followed by a hearty Scots Breakfast and enought fruit juice, coffee to keep you re-hydrated throughout the day. |
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| Strengths |
Location.
Situated inbetween Glencoe and Nevis Range resorts makes this a perfect place to stay. |
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| Hot Spots |
Bothy Bar
Glencoe on your doorstep, views down the Loch from your hotel room. |
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| Weaknesses |
| Creaky Floor - Hot water, you had to time it right - think we must have been last in the queue for showers that evening, because the hot water had run out.....but nothing to really worry about. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| A-Basin, CO. |
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 1 of 5 19/09/2003 @ 14:08:58 |
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| 2 members have given this review an average rating of 3 of 5 |
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| Price Paid |
| not much |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| day trip from Fort William |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
| Went here for a day during a weeks trip to Fort William. This was in my naive days when I thought boarding in Scotland would be good to try.
Our first effort at snowboarding was a week in an old house a couple of miles from FW. We intended to go up Aonoch Mor eahc day.
Due to the high winds in FW, and reports of snow in Glencoe, we jumped in the car and headed down. It looked good in the carpark with a snowplough and a sensible amount of the white stuff.
Turned out on the chairlift that it was more rain than snow so we were soaked by the time we got to the top.
There waiting for us was a button tow and some pretty patchy snow and ice. After several attempts we managed to get to the top of the button. I think we managed a few runs in the hail/rain blizzard that was Glencoe then came down soaked and exhausted. |
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| Strengths |
| Handy boarding for locals |
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| Weaknesses |
| it's in scotland (a long way from Dorset), the weather is well dodgy, you have to live close and pick your days carefully to get the best from the place. |
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| 4 of 5 05/02/2003 @ 13:21:37 |
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| 2 members have given this review an average rating of 4 of 5 |
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| Times Visited |
| 6-15 Times |
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| Review Detail |
I love this place, I know the area well as I also do a bit of mountaineering and the scenery is fantastic. Quick to get to from my home in Glasgow and even though its a bit antiquated the wide open runs and natural gullies and jumps can make for a wild ride down the hill. I have done almost all my boarding here since I started a few years ago and have not had a bad day (except when I snapped my wrist 2 years ago) though the west highland weather can be unpredictable at best.
Overall nice, simple and fun resort. |
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| Strengths |
| Basic and doesnt pretend to be what its not. Often less busy and cheaper than the gorms or glenshee etc. Amazing wide and natural terain. |
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| Weaknesses |
| Few lifts mean q's can get big (typical Scotland!) Weather changes very fast. |
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| Reviews: 34 |
| Review Mod |
| Kirkcudbrightshire |
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| 4 of 5 19/07/2002 @ 22:59:15 |
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| 1 member has given this review a rating of 4 of 5 |
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| Times Visited |
| 15 Times + |
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| Review Detail |
Glencoe. The name has so much history attached to it and is a most beautiful of places. Driving up onto Rannoch moor always inspires me for a great days Boarding as you look up to the head of the glen to Scotlands best mountain, the impressive Buichaille Etive Mor. (In my humble opinion).
When you arrive at the base area you find a log cabin Restaurant,ticket office as well as the hire shop. Access to the slopes is via a chairlift which takes you to the plateau ,this is a good beginners area when snow cover permits. Up here you will find a café with toilets but it does not sell alcohol so if you want a pint at lunchtime it will mean a trip back down to the base area. The top runs are accessed from two drag lifts after a short trip on a single seat chair (Cliffhanger). Scotlands steepest piste the Flypaper is fairly Challenging but not very long.
On a good clear day with good snow cover a lot of fun can be had at Glencoe, there is plenty of natural bumps and gullies to make up for no snowpark. On rare occasions it is possible to ride from top drag lift all the way back to the carpark. Midweek can be very quiet especially late in season when conditions can be surprisingly good. This is a great place to come for a couple of days if you can get away from work at short notice when you know the weather looks settled. Glencoe is less than an hours drive away from Nevis Range just north of Fort William and staying here is the best option if you want to combine the two.
Glencoe is not the biggest, nor does it have the best lifts or facilities in Scotland but it remains my
favourite. Try it out sometime but come midweek! |
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| Weaknesses |
| The weak points of Glencoe are the usual ones you expect from a wintersports area in the UK. Unpredictable weather and snow conditions and it is also a drive to nearest places to eat or stay. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Over 100 resorts worldwide. |
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