Number crunching the Scottish ski industry’s best winter in five years

At about this time last year, James Mackintosh, manager of the Lecht ski centre, gave me his views on the future of the Scottish ski industry. With very little snowfall to speak of, and rapid thaws when the snow did come, Scotland had just experienced its worst winter for skiing since at least 1989, recording just 54,156 “skier days” across the five resorts (a skier day being equivalent to one person buying a day pass or two people each buying a half-day pass.) The number was so low – about a quarter of the average for the previous five seasons – that it had caused a degree of panic among members of the snow-sliding community, and renewed speculation that the resorts’ days might be numbered. Mackintosh, however, was a very long way from throwing in the towel.