It’s been a rotten winter for snowboarding in Scotland. Other than the odd day, there’s not been anywhere near enough snow for the lifts to get spinning. We remain hopeful that things will improve soon, but some folks up in Inverness have a plan to make year-round skiing and snowboarding in the Highlands a reality.

For obvious reasons, there’s no shortage of keen riders in the area, and several of them – as well as organisations like the Cairngorm Ski Club, Snowsport Scotland and the Inverness Backcountry Snowsports Club – have put their heads together to deliver a new dry slope. While Glasgow and Edinburgh have long enjoyed such facilities, there’s nothing of this scale close to the actual Scottish mountains.

“While Glasgow and Edinburgh have long enjoyed such facilities, there’s nothing of this scale close to the actual Scottish mountains”

It they can make this work, those travelling to Cairngorm or the Lecht will have an alternative for bad-weather days on the mountain, potentially encouraging more people to make the trip. We’d surely also see the emergence of more British dryslope-raised talent to follow the likes of Jamie Nicholls, Katie Ormerod and Will Smith – with the added bonus of real snow slopes nearby.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for any updates, but in the meantime you can help by filling in this short survey and chipping in with your suggestions or comments.