Places to ski in Ireland (or UK)

Question

During the last years I learnt to ski and I find it very entertaining.

Now there is the possibility for me to move to Ireland and I was wondering if there exist some places where you can ski in the island.

I know the mountains there are not very high but I also know that it is possible to ski at a lowest latitude (center/south of Italy for example) in mountains not higher than 2000 meters.

I checked online but I only found sites that organize travels to the Alps.

Do you know if Ireland has any ski resort? In alternative, are there such places in the United Kingdom?

Answer 1

Skiing in Ireland, good luck man.

UK looks more reasonable, but still. If you insist, try the Ben Nevis in Scotland. But it is not next door if you live in Ireland. I went there from London. That's great because you have a night train that takes you up there.

From Ireland the Alps are easier to reach than any of the UK resorts! Ryanair has scheduled flights from Dublin to Memmingen, Salzburg, Grenoble and Milano Malpensa (for the Dolomites)! But Sierra Nevada (Malaga) and the High Tatra (Krakow) are also within reach. From Cork, you have Malpensa, Malaga and Krakow.

Answer 2

Ireland gets enough snow to to make a mess of the traffic for one or two days every every other year, and some people even take snow boards up the mountains when this happens, but there are no ski lifts or anything. We are many things, but not a winter sports nation.

We do have have a dry slopes that you can ski on all year. There's two in Dublin: Kilternan in south County Dublin. Have a look at www.skiclub.ie to find more details. Another in Stillorglin closer to the city: https://www.skicentre.ie/ which is a revolving slope on which (if they let you) you could ski for hours.

In Northern Ireland there's also two: In Belfast (see https://www.wearevertigo.com/ski/), and by Lough Neagh (see https://getactiveabc.com/facility/craigavon-golf-ski-centre/) which is another revolving slope.

Answer 3

Actually there is a site that did all this work for you.

You can look at SkiCentral and then do search by country. Most resorts in England there are a few more listed for Scotland offer dry slopes rather then actual snow but there are a few that have actual snow like Weardale. You can also look at UK Ski Club Map to get additional information

The best information for Ski Resorts in Ireland would probably be available from the Ski Club of Ireland but as best I can figure it's all artificial surface skiing.

Answer 4

yes, it is possible to go skiing in Ireland, the higher parts of the Wicklow mountains are 50 days snow capped each year witch is just as much as the lake district in England where the raise ski centre is located, so sure you could drive up into the mountains in winter and do some off piste skiing. The only reason that there is no ski resort in Ireland is because Ireland is not in a good position to be building ski resorts.

Answer 5

Ireland is not generally good for skiing at all, unless you want to trek up yourself and be prepared to ski in the rain.

Scotland is a much better idea. We have 5 ski resorts.

• Nevis Range
  • 11 lifts - loads of backcountry routes. Best in late winter/early spring
• Glenshee
  • 22 lifts - this is probably our biggest resort. Best in January/February
• The Lecht
  • 13 lifts - much smaller than the others, but convenient roadside access. Best January to April
• Glencoe
  • 8 lifts - amazing scenery. Steep! It's west so is affected by rain and temperature variations.
• Cairngorm
  • 11 lifts - this has a funicular to get you to the top. The most popular ski resort in Scotland. Best late winter/early spring

All relatively easy to get to (with Glenshee and the Lecht fastest from Edinburgh and the South)