We'll be doing the emergency stop installation on the Lowther tow. There's plenty of things to carry up and down the hill, so that's a good day of healthy exercise for those available to help :-)

We’ve been a bit quiet of late on updates from the hill. Your Committee has been very busy trying to secure funding for the clubhouse and snowfencing. The paperwork to change the legal structure of the Unincorporated Association into a Community Interest Company is about to be completed and submitted soon. We are also looking into the purchase of a snowgroomer and all the funding and storage consequences of such a step.

...plus 10 other ski centres that share the mountain with a Radar Station



The prominent golf-ball like structure on the summit of Lowther Hill is one of the first things most people notice when they visit Leadhills and Wanlockhead.

Our fun, Summer work parties are back! Join us on Sunday 12th July on Lowther Hill for a bit of fresh air, healthy exercise and sunny weather :-)

Lowther Hills Ski Club held its AGM on the 14th June 2015; thank you to the 10 members who attended the meeting and 10 other members who send their apologies.



It has been an exciting Winter season 2014/15; our fantastic volunteers managed to run the tows 20 days while juggling with construction works on Lowther Hill. We provided fun on the slopes for our increasing number of members, most of whom are families with children. We worked long hours under the most appalling weather conditions. We gained planning permission to build new facilities. We dismantled and relocated Harwood's ski tow to Lowther Hill. We built an engine hut and placed a temporary club hut on the hill. We installed the highest webcams in the south of Scotland. We filled in paperwork, knocked doors, begged for favours, funding and for donations. We met great people and made many good friends.

We want next season 2015/16 to be even better.

Lowther Hills Ski Club members are invited to attend our AGM on Sunday 14th June 2015 at the Hopetoun Arms Hotel in Leadhills.

Following our funding application back in January 2015, we have been successfully awarded a small grant from South Lanarkshire Council for portable floodlighting at Leadhills' Nursery Area.

We would like to express our gratitude to Lochside Education Centre, Dumfries, for their generous donation of over 100 ski helmets to the Lowther Hills Ski Club. Also, thanks to our fleet of volunteers who went to Dumfries to collect them.



Webcam #1 - Lowther Hill Summit

South of Scotland's highest webcam. Looking out from the summit drive of the Lowther Hill ski tow at 710m (2,330ft), down the ski slopes to the lodge and nursery area at Whiteside. The webcam provides a wider view of the Southern Upland Way walking route, Wanlockhead, and Ayrshire and the West Highlands in the distance.

View over Lowther Hill ski tow and slopes, ski lodge, Whiteside nursery area, Southern Upland Way and Wanlockhead

 

Thank you very much everybody. We have successfully crowdfunded a webcam and weather station for the Ski Club's facilities on Lowther Hill. We asked for £1,500 and we raised £1,630 (see our original crowdfunding appeal here and here).

Sunday 22nd March was an exciting day. We brought the temporary club hut to Whiteside and test-ran the Lowther Hill ski tow for the first time. Thank you to all our members for your continued confidence in us because without your support we couldn’t have made this happen.

Rope tensioned and everything now ready for the big test.

Testing the rope on the drive wheel and getting the engine ready to work.

Engine and drive wheel coupled and bolted down. Getting ready to test the tow.

Anti-vibration engine mounts installed at the engine hut, and snow storm aftermath...