Nevis Range Sneeuwverwachting

Just returned (Feb 2013) from my second trip to Scotland's suposed best skiing and yet again, for the second year running, at the height of the season there was absolutely no snow. Now, whilst I agree that that is uncontrollable, what I'm annoyed about are the blatant lies that Nevis Range and the neighbouring Glencoe unashamedly band about on their websites and at the base station. '40cm of hard packed snow' and 'good riding conditions on a firm base' really translates to frozen mud and grass with rocks everywhere. Unfortunately, you cannot observe this without taking the gondola up first. It was quite sad to see people exiting the top gondola station, fully equipped with helmets, boots, etc only to be met with zero lifts operating with the 'All runs groomed and open' pistes (thin strips of icy mud) only accessible by yomping up the mountain! And they were charging £30 for the pleasure! The whole place looks run down and like a leisure centre from the 1970s. Also, Fort William is not somewhere to find 'apres-ski'. It's an ugly looking council estate with a Morrisons as the main attraction. Spend your money on a Ryanair or Easyjet ticket for the weekend and go somewhere with snow, lower prices and a bit of culture.