Schilthorn’s revolving restaurant is a far cry from Ptarmigan’s locked doors on Cairn Gorm
ACTIVE OUTDOORS VIEWPOINT: John Davidson argues for a more relaxed approach to mountain access for Cairngorm funicular users as a new trial begins
Sitting in a revolving restaurant 2970 metres above sea level in the Swiss Alps, sipping hot chocolate – with lots and lots of cream – is an experience not to be missed.
I’ve done this after climbing the Schilthorn from the tourist hotspot of Lauterbrunnen (which sits at just under 800m above sea level); a phenomenal summer alpine trek through hanging valleys with spectacular rocky ridges and magnificent panoramas to reach the summit.
There you find the Piz Gloria restaurant, visitor centre and viewing platform, complete with cable car to the top. The cableway was opened in 1967 – a year before the James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, used the newly built revolving restaurant to film a dramatic scene.
Development of various funicular railway routes, aerial cableways, chairlifts and visitor experiences in the area have continued ever since.
Meanwhile, in the heart of the Highlands, the closest thing we have is the Ptarmigan restaurant partway up Cairn Gorm. It’s barely comparable, but the protracted problems with the short funicular track that leads up from the base station at 750m to the building at nearly 1100m is the closest thing we’ve got.
It’s fair to say that there is a different mountain culture here. This kind of tourist experience in the Scottish mountains is very much the exception, and there are those who would prefer to see all this development removed and the Cairngorms rewilded.
Personally, I’m glad the once-proposed expansion of the skiing areas into the wonderfully wild Northern Corries never got off the ground, but after several visits to Switzerland I can also appreciate the benefit of giving controlled access to the hills to those who cannot or will not strap on a pair of boots and slog their way up.
Yet the restrictions at the Ptarmigan have always struck me as somewhat draconian. In order to help protect the environment, visitors using the funicular cannot leave the environs of the building and viewing platform – which includes its own café/restaurant and visitor centre.
However, not everybody who uses the railway seems to realise this, and feedback to Highland and Islands Enterprise – which owns the destination (for wont of a better term) – has clearly shown that people want to step outside and experience the mountain for themselves.
Cairngorm Mountain, which operates the railway and the Ptarmigan, has now announced that it is going to trial a new system where a limited number of people will be able to leave the area. Their movements will be tracked by mobile phones to ensure they “keep to the designated paths within the ski area to protect the environment”.
Visitors booked onto guided walks with the ranger service are the only ones currently allowed to head out for a walk.
I’d never been inside the Ptarmigan until this summer, when we walked from the car park to the summit with the children, and popped in for a comfort break – and a cool drink on a scorching hot day.
It’s not very clear how you can get in as a walker, but there is an unmarked back entrance, and if you knock the right number of times, they might just let you in!
Joking aside, there is a sign-in and sign-out system for walkers when the Ptarmigan is open. I could have done with it a few years ago when I sheltered out of the wind and rain behind the building at the start of a two-day backpacking trip through the Cairngorms – I was soaked to the skin within the first half an hour of that hike. Sadly, it was all locked up that day.
For those on the inside trying to get out, it can be equally impossible.
Hopefully this new trial is a step towards allowing more people a fuller experience on Cairn Gorm. There is a short loop to the summit from the Ptarmigan using the path via Marquis’ Well and the stone steps that take a more direct approach.
While opening up the paths to more visitors would certainly have some impact on the environment, it seems unlikely that many would stray off these main routes and significantly damage the protected Natura sites on the plateau.
And for those purists who enjoy the solitude and tranquillity of the mountains, we can wander to our hearts’ content across the vast miles of alpine landscape that make the Cairngorms such an alluring and wild place to spend time in.
Although every now and then, it’s nice to be able to grab a hot chocolate and act like a tourist.