Ski: Glencoe Mountain

📌 Ski centre in Glen Coe, Highland
★★★★

Set on the rocky slopes of Meall a’ Bhuiridh and overlooking the vast expanse of Rannoch Moor, Glencoe Mountain Resort should be first on your list if you like your piste skiing rugged and wild – but its scope for beginners has improved greatly over recent years too. In perfect snow conditions Scotland’s biggest lift-served vertical is available – 720 metres – with decent terrain for all abilities.

Scroll down for our detailed guide.

🌍 Location

📌 Off the A82, east end of Glen Coe (8 mi north of Bridge of Orchy)

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 266525

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.631865,-4.828370

🚌 Buses stop on the A82 at the end of the access road (1 mi)

🚗 Car park (gets full) – access road fairly reliably kept open

📝 Key info

🚡 9 lifts | ⛷️ 20 km | ↕️ Skiing range: 360-1,080 m

⌚ Roughly mid December to April, conditions permitting

🎫 Day lift pass: £32-£39 adult / £24-£28 child – buy in advance online on busy days

🎿 Equipment hire: On site

🔗 glencoemountain.co.uk

⛷️ Slopes guide

Don’t miss… The Haggis Trap – a narrow gully at the bottom of the Main Basin. A unique terrain feature unless it’s filled in with snow!

The ski area splits naturally into four vertical levels. At the top of the long Access Chairlift from the car park you’re greeted by the gentle Plateau, first served by the Plateau Poma and the triple-seater Rannoch Chair (new for 2022/2023). Both lifts are flanked by gentle greens – the Plateau Run the signature one. From the top of the lift, further greens curve away to skier’s left served by the Coire Pollach Tow. Access Return continues past the Plateau Cafe, eventually returning to the top of the chair by a flattish cat track. The single-seat Cliffhanger Chair and The Wall T-bar both depart from the general area around the cafe, together covering mid mountain. Neither lift is long, but they access a brilliantly varied area of terrain thanks to the underlying topography – from slightly tricky greens on skier’s right, to the black Canyon run which follows a natural gully.

From the top of the T-bar you can ski across to the Main Basin T-bar and Rannoch Button Tow – parallel lifts taking you to the summit and upper mountain runs. To skier’s left are long, wide blues – with the Main Basin often a wide, immaculately groomed blast, and Etive Glades heading away from all the lifts at the far edge of the piste map. Confident intermediates and upwards should head in the other direction, on a narrow cat track or path (which often requires unclipping) accessing increasingly steep slopes the further you go. The wide, occasionally groomed Spring Run is one of Glencoe’s signature pistes, while the ungroomed Flypaper is Scotland’s steepest run. The latter is often closed due to avalanche risk, set in a bowl with gradients approaching 45° early in the season before snowfall helps it mellow a little. Further across still, the East Ridge can provide good off-piste, avalanche risk permitting.

Finally, three (sometimes unmarked) access runs descend to the car park under the access chair. In some seasons these itineraries never have enough snow to open, but if available they extend total on-piste vertical to 730 metres – unmatched elsewhere in the UK.

❄️ Snow & weather

Glencoe’s very rocky underlying terrain means the main mountain (above the plateau) needs a succession of winter storms to “fill in” the gullies and natural snowfields. Once this happens, the mid and upper mountain usually stays in good condition for a long season – these areas face north or northeast, being sheltered from the sun and prevailing winds. Late in the season the lowest plateau area can suffer. A “Snowfactory” (which produces artificial snow even at temperatures above freezing) keeps the sledging area open for the majority of the season, even when natural snow elsewhere on the hill is scarce. The access chair is prone to wind closure, which jeopardises the rest of the mountain. We have always found the operations team very efficient about opening up as much of the ski area as possible.

👪 Queues & facilities

The small car park limits numbers at Glencoe, keeping queues bearable even on the busiest days if most lifts are running. The new Access Chair has lessened pressure on the Plateau Poma, previously caused by the mid morning migration up the mountain.

Ski / snowboard hire is available on site, but there can be painful queues to pick up equipment at weekends and during school holidays – arrive early. Ski and snowboard lessons are available. There are two cafes: the White Corries Cafe in the smart base lodge, and a smaller one on the Plateau. There are basic “hobbit houses” at the lift base for overnight stays.

A useful dry ski slope at the lift base allows ski school beginner teaching when conditions cause lifts to close, and there is a popular sledging slope (with reliable artificial snow backup) at the Plateau Cafe, served by its own conveyor belt lift.

🥜 In a nutshell: Snowsports in Scotland

>> Want to know more about Scottish snowsports in general? Check out our overview page.