Fruity forecast of bumper ski season

SNOWSPORTS enthusiasts will enjoy another bumper season in the Cairngorms this winter, according to a local forecaster with a novel way of predicting the weather.

Forget meteorological forecasts about jet streams and new fronts moving in – Colin Matthew, 50, bases his predictions on the size of the snowberries in his garden.

After a record-breaking ski season in the Highlands last year when 145,000 people visited the Cairn Gorm resort, Mr Matthew, of Inverdruie, near Aviemore, reckons the berries could point to another winter of heavy snow.

He said: “In 2009 the snowberries in my garden appeared early in August and were particularly large.

“They budded and flowered again two or three times during the season, on each occasion coinciding with the massive falls of snow we experienced last season.”

Mr Matthew, CairnGorm Mountain Ltd’s head of ski patrol, added: “The berries are as big as ever this year, so if my theory is right we are in for another winter with a lot of snow.”

Almost 375,000 people used Scotland’s ski resorts last winter, generating £37.5million for the country’s economy – the most successful season since 1995-96.

That appears to have whetted appetites for the coming winter, with CairnGorm Mountain already receiving more than 750 applications for ski season passes

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