Cairn Gorm (Gaelic: An Càrn Gorm, meaning Blue or Green Hill) is a mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 overlooking Strathspey

Strathspey, Scotland

Strathspey is the area around the strath of the River Spey, Scotland, in both the Moray council area and the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area of Highland....

 and the town of Aviemore

Aviemore

Aviemore is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and other winter sports, and for hill-walking in the Cairngorm...

. At 1245 metres (4084 ft) it is the sixth highest mountain in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It has given its name to the whole range, although these hills are properly known as Am Monadh Ruadh (the Red Hills) rather than the Cairngorms

Cairngorms

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...

. Cairn Gorm is the most prominent of the Cairngorm mountains in the view from Speyside, but it is not the highest.

Much of the north-western slopes of the mountain are downhill skiing developments concentrated in Coire Cas. As well as ski tows, snow fence

Snow fence

A snow fence is a structure, similar to a sand fence, that forces drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are primarily employed to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and railways. Farmers and ranchers may use temporary snow fences to create large drifts in basins for a...

s and bulldozed tracks, this corrie

Cirque

Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...

 is also now home to a funicular

Funicular

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...

 railway.

The next corrie south of Coire Cas, Coire an t-Sneachda

Coire an t-Sneachda

Coire an t-Sneachda is a glacial cirque or corrie landform in the Cairngorm or Am Monadh Ruadh mountain range in the Grampian Mountains of the Scottish Highlands....

, is separated from the skiing area by a ridge known as Fiacaill a' Choire Chais. The southern side of Cairn Gorm overlooks the remote loch

Loch

Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...

 known as Loch Avon .

There is an automated weather station

Weather station

A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...

 (AWS) controlled by Heriot Watt University on the summit of the mountain providing temperature and wind speed data. There is a separate AWS run by the Met Office

Met Office

The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...

 (synop code 03065).

Walking and climbing

An easy route to the summit is the access road up the centre of Coire Cas, however this route is unpleasantly scarred and is not recommended as an ascent route during the skiing season. The Windy Ridge path on Sròn an Aonaich lying to the northeast of the skiing area avoids these problems. Alternatively, Fiacaill a' Choire Chais offers a good walking

Walking

Walking is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals, and is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step...

 route. Many other possibilities present themselves. Walkers are advised to consult the local map and call in at the Ranger Base at the car park.

There are many climbing routes at the head of Coire an t-Sneachda

Coire an t-Sneachda

Coire an t-Sneachda is a glacial cirque or corrie landform in the Cairngorm or Am Monadh Ruadh mountain range in the Grampian Mountains of the Scottish Highlands....

 and Coire an Lochain, and in winter this corrie is one of Scotland's major ice climbing

Ice climbing

Ice climbing, as the term indicates, is the activity of ascending inclined ice formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water. For the purposes of...

 areas.

1971 disaster

On 21–22 November 1971, five pupils from Ainslie Park High School

Ainslie Park High School

Ainslie Park High School was a state secondary school in East Pilton, Edinburgh, Scotland, prior to its demolition.- History :Built at the end of World War II and opened as a school, the building was designed to be used as an emergency hospital, such was the fear of the nuclear bomb being used...

 in Edinburgh and a trainee instructor from Newcastle-under-Lyme died in a blizzard at Feith Buidhe on the Cairn Gorm plateau. it stands as the UK's worst mountaineering disaster.

The Cairngorm ski resort

History

The ski resort was developed on Cairn Gorm from 1960 onwards. It is the second largest in Scotland (after Glenshee

Glenshee Ski Centre

Glenshee Ski Centre is the largest ski resort in Scotland and is sometimes referred to as the Scottish three valleys. It is located in Aberdeenshire and to the north of Spittal of Glenshee, on the A93 road between Blairgowrie and Braemar in the southern Highlands of Scotland...

) and acquired a reputation for the most reliable snow conditions. By the 1980s, thousands of skiers were using the resort on busy weekends, and the slopes could become very crowded. There was pressure to expand the resort to the west, but this was blocked by environmental objections.

A series of milder winters than in previous decades commenced in the mid 1990s,a trend usually attributed to Global Warming

Global warming

Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

, and skiing conditions suffered badly. Usage fell significantly, threatening the financial viability of the resort.

Snow lie and weather conditions are unpredictable, but recent seasons, such as the winter seasons of 2005–2006, 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 have resulted in good snow cover. Usage has recovered significantly resulting in improved finances for the ski area.

The funicular controversy

By 1990, much of the resort's original infrastructure was ageing and proving increasingly difficult to maintain. The chairlifts and tows were also susceptible to the high winds which the mountain is prone to, and were frequently forced to shut in winds above 25 mph (40 km/h). The Cairngorm Chairlift Company, who operated the resort, proposed removing the chairlift and replacing it with a funicular railway

There was strong opposition to the funicular from environmental groups, who were concerned about damage to the mountain and its fragile soils and plants. The eventual compromise reached, after negotiations with Scottish Natural Heritage

Scottish Natural Heritage

Scottish Natural Heritage is a Scottish public body. It is responsible for Scotland's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e...

, allowed the Cairngorm Mountain Railway

Cairngorm Mountain Railway

The Cairngorm Mountain Railway is the highest railway in the United Kingdom since it opened in 2001. The two-kilometre long funicular ascends the northern slopes of Cairn Gorm, the United Kingdom's sixth-highest mountain. The route is located within the Cairngorms National Park, the largest...

 to be built, but with restrictions on its usage. Only skiers are allowed to exit from the top station. Other users can visit the restaurant and visitor centre, but are prevented from leaving the building to walk to the summit of the mountain.Further controversy mired the building project, with budget over-runs, allegations of conflicts of interest by those connected to both Highland Council and the construction company and questions raised about the use of public money. The construction was estimated to have cost around £19.6 million, mostly funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Highlands and Islands Enterprise is the Scottish Government's economic and community development agency for a diverse region which covers more than half of Scotland and is home to around 450,000 people....

 (HIE), a government body. £2.7 million was provided by the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

.

Improved snow conditions in recent winters has increased its use by skiers, Cairngorm Mountain Ltd but it is dependent on other users. Recent good snow conditions helped the company record a profit of £736,031 for the year ending March 31, 2010, Cairngorm Mountain Ltd HIE is interested in selling the resort. There are also groups campaigning to remove the restriction on walkers leaving the top station.

External links

• Computer generated summit panoramas North South here
• Highland-Instinct
• CairnGorm Mountain Ltd
• Cairn Gorm Weather Station