Plans Approved for Undercover Ski Slope at Coylumbridge

Plans to bring a covered, all-weather dry ski slope to Coylumbridge, near Aviemore, have taken a significant step forward, with Highland Council granting permission in principle for the development and further applications now progressing through the planning system.

The scheme, brought forward by School of Snowsports Ltd, the operator behind the existing dry ski slope and instruction centre at Outdoor Discovery Coylumbridge, would see a canopy erected over an outdoor ski slope on land just northwest of the Coylumbridge Highland Lodges Club, on the road linking Aviemore with Glenmore and Cairngorm Mountain.

The slope will be a treadmill type slope made by skimachine.com

Building on an existing permission

Council records show the development was first granted planning permission in principle under reference 24/01374/PIP. School of Snowsports has since submitted an application to discharge the conditions attached to that consent, along with a fresh full application, reference 26/02010/FUL, specifically for the "erection of canopy and outdoor ski slope" on the site. Both applications were validated by Highland Council's planning department in June 2026 and were designed by Dingwall-based Reynold's Architecture, with Highland Council planning officer Julie-Ann Bain acting as case officer.

Weatherproofing a Highland institution

The site has long been a fixture of the Aviemore ski scene. Outdoor Discovery Coylumbridge already operates a traditional dry ski slope alongside climbing walls, tubing and other outdoor activities for guests at the neighbouring lodges and hotel, while School of Snowsports has provided ski and snowboard instruction, equipment hire and sales in the area for more than two decades.

A covered slope would allow the site to operate independent of Highland weather, addressing one of the long-standing frustrations of dry-slope skiing in Scotland: rain, wind and driving snow that can make an uncovered artificial slope unusable or unpleasant even outside the winter season. A canopy structure would let instructors run lessons and let visitors ski or snowboard year-round, regardless of conditions, without needing snow at all.

Part of a wider push for indoor and covered snowsports facilities

The Coylumbridge proposal is a modest development by comparison with some of the larger indoor snow projects making headlines elsewhere in the UK, including the £300 million indoor real-snow centre approved for Rhydycar West in Merthyr Tydfil earlier this year, which is set to become Britain's longest indoor ski slope. But it reflects a similar underlying logic: making snowsports training less dependent on the vagaries of natural weather and more accessible year-round.

For the Cairngorms, where CairnGorm Mountain's ski season can be disrupted by high winds and unreliable snowfall, a reliable, weatherproofed slope closer to Aviemore would give local skiers, snowboarders and visiting families a dependable training option regardless of what conditions are doing on the hill.

Highland Council's planning department is expected to confirm final approval of the outstanding applications in the coming weeks, paving the way for construction work to begin on the canopy structure.