Glencoe Mountain

Glencoe Mountain, at the head of the glen near the Kingshouse Hotel, is Scotland’s oldest ski centre and doubles in summer as a chairlift-served mountain bike park. The chairlift runs from mid-May to late October, weather permitting, lifting bikes and riders to the top of a network of downhill and cross-country trails, alongside walkers and sightseers who just want the ride and the view.

A single mountain bike uplift costs from £18, with day tickets and season passes also available; a straightforward chairlift return for sightseeing, with no bike involved, is priced separately. The trails range from beginner-friendly routes to committing downhill runs, and bike hire is available on site for anyone without their own equipment. Outside biking, the centre also runs summer tubing at weekends, and its position at the head of Glen Coe, looking out over the Rannoch Moor side of the watershed rather than back down the glen, gives it a distinctly different outlook from the rest of Glencoe’s scenery.

The centre’s winter role, as one of Scotland’s five ski areas, is a reminder that this is a proper mountain environment even in summer: weather on the exposed Rannoch Moor plateau can close the lift with little warning, and anyone heading out on the trails should be ready for conditions to change fast. It suits a confident rider who wants lift-served descending, and a non-riding passenger who is content with the chairlift and the view from the top. A beginner on a first trip is better served on gentler ground, as is anyone who needs the day to happen whatever the weather does. If the lift is down, the Glencoe Lochan trails a few minutes away stay open in anything.