"Winter is Coming" Snowsport Festival 2014/15

Scotland’s newest snowsports festival is set to take place on 18 and 19 October at Scotland’s dry slopes. “Winter is Coming!” will offer a range of fun activities over the two-day festival, including taster ski and snowboard sessions.

The new festival has been developed by the country’s dryslopes in partnership with the sport’s national governing body, Snowsport Scotland, and Ski-Scotland, the marketing partnership which has promoted Scottish snowsports for more than 25 years. The Festival aims to generate interest and excitement in the run-up to the winter snow season.

“This is something completely new”, said Chair of Ski-Scotland Heather Negus. “There is always a sense of anticipation as soon as the first snow falls. Working with the dry slopes, we aim to build on this to generate additional interest among existing skiers and snowboarders and people who might try a snowsport for the first time.”

Speaking on behalf of the participating dry slopes, Dave Jacobs added: “The new festival will add to the pre-season buzz. Children and adults can brush up their skills or try skiing or snowboarding for the first time at special pre-booked free and low-cost taster sessions. And there will also be other fun at each of the participating slopes, including tubing, competitions and face painting as well as race training, and special offers on club memberships and “mat to mountain” sessions.”

Participating dry slopes include those in Aberdeen City and Shire, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow and detailed information can be found on www.ski-scotland.com/winteriscoming

“Snowsports are an important part of Scotland’s winter, not only for fun, but as a serious contributor to the tourism economy,” continued Heather. “Last winter generated 235,303 “skier days” across the five mountain ski resorts and £23.7M for the Scottish economy. This is in addition to those who ski and snowboard at the dry slopes, which play a vital role in introducing people to the sport, helping them make the mat to mountain transition and training competent athletes for competitions and races. This inaugural festival aims to introduce new people to the healthy fun that skiing and snowboarding offer and to increase awareness and appetite for that fun in the mountains once the snow arrives.”

Photo Credit: Steven McKenna