Glencoe

It is possible to stay at the foot of the hill in one of their Microlodges, or hook up your campervan to the power supply, but otherwise the best place to stay is in Ballachulish or in Kinlochleven to the west of the resort. The scenery is stunning and Glencoe itself is spectacular – its no wonder it was chosen as a location for the James Bond film Skyfall.

As with all Scottish resorts, conditions can at times be unreliable but on a good day, the terrain here can rival the world’s best – and you’d be certainly hard pushed to find more spectacular scenery. For this reason stay as flexible as possible and be prepared to drop everything and dash to the mountains when conditions are good!

In summertime, Meall A’Bhuiridh doesn’t look much like a ski area – it looks far too rocky. But come winter and after a few big snowstorms, its natural gullies and hollows fill in to form some of Scotland’s classic downhill runs.

These often hold great snow well into spring – indeed skiing has run into May in recent years. Below the upper slopes lies the gently undulating Plateau, home to the main beginner runs, snowfactory and by 2019/2020, a new chairlift from the top of the Access Chair.

Absolute beginners don’t even need to take the Access Chair up as there is an excellent dry slope right next to the car park. But for those looking to ski on snow, the slopes of the Plateau are a fantastic learning area.

The offering has been massively improved since the Coire Pollach drag was built and more recently by the addition of the snowfactory nearby. This will only improve further once the new chairlift is built, removing the need to use draglifts for beginners.

The gentle runs on the Plateau make for a good warm up, but the best area for intermediates is the Main Basin, served by two lifts running to the resort’s highest point. Once this has filled in it can become one big motorway of corduroy, but early in the season when it is narrower it is a more formidable challenge. Another area worth exploring is the zone to skiers left of the Wall T-bar, an area than can often hold great snow.

For advanced skiers, Glencoe is home to the Flypaper, a very steep black that is a challenge for any skier or snowboarder. Further to skiers right is the East Wall, an area of equally steep off piste that is a great place to head to after fresh snowfall – just check first with ski patrol as this area is avalanche prone.

There are also some fantastic touring options and if snow has fallen to a low level, advanced riders will love the ski back down to the car park – there are some fantastic gullies and snowfields that can be tackled.

• Glasgow: 2 hours
• Edinburgh: 2.5 hours