Kit list · Winter programme
The Winter
Gear List
Everything you need for a weekend on Cairngorm, and the reason you need it. Scottish skiing asks more of your kit than an alpine holiday does — the weather changes between the car park and the top station, the snow is as often hard and wind-scoured as it is soft, and the light can go flat in minutes.
Nothing here is expensive for its own sake. Buy it second hand, borrow it, grow into it — but test it before the first session rather than in the lift queue.
Before you buy anything new. Almost everything on this list turns up at the club Ski Sale each November — skis, boots, poles, clothing, all of it outgrown by someone else’s family rather than worn out. Volunteer on the day and you get first look.
01 · The foundation
The Big Three
The three things you cannot borrow at the last minute, and the three worth spending the most thought on.
SkisEssential
Serviced, with edges that are actually sharp. Scottish snow is more often hard, wind-scoured or refrozen than deep and soft, so a narrower piste or all-mountain ski holds an edge far better here than a wide powder ski will. For a skier still growing, somewhere between chin and nose height is the usual starting point — ask a coach before you buy.
Ski bootsEssential
Fitted by someone who does it for a living. Cold feet end a day faster than anything else, and boots that are too big are almost always the cause — a loose foot cannot keep itself warm. Carry them up the hill rather than walking in them.
PolesEssential
To check the length, turn a pole upside down and grip it just under the basket. With the handle on the snow your forearm should sit roughly level with the ground.
Worth knowing
Get skis serviced before the season rather than after the first icy morning. A sharp edge is the difference between learning to carve and learning to be frightened.
02 · What the weather hits first
The Outer Shell
This is the layer doing the real work. Everything underneath it depends on it staying dry.
Cairngorm Ski Club jacketClub kit
Worn at every session. It is how a coach picks their group out of a crowded piste in poor visibility, and it is how the rest of the club recognises you. Available through the club.
Waterproof ski trousers or salopettesEssential
Look for taped seams. Scottish snow is frequently wet snow or sleet, and “water resistant” is not the same thing as waterproof — a morning sitting on a wet T-bar or poma will find the difference for you.
Waterproof outer jacketEssential
Windproof matters as much as warm. Cairngorm is one of the windiest places in Britain, and a thin shell that blocks wind will keep a skier more comfortable than a thick jacket that does not.
03 · Add and shed
Layers
Layers you can adjust without taking everything off. The temperature and feel between the car park and the top station can differ by more than you would expect.
Base layer, top and bottomEssential
Merino or synthetic. Never cotton — once cotton is damp it stays damp, and it pulls heat out of you for the rest of the day.
Fleece or mid layerEssential
Something that comes off easily. A bright morning in the Ciste and a wind-blasted afternoon on the Cas feel like different days entirely.
Warm ski socksEssential
One proper pair, not two thin ones. Doubling up compresses the foot inside the boot and makes it colder, not warmer. One spare pair in the bag just in case.
Spare mid layerRecommended
Left in your bag within a dry-bag. Being able to change into something dry at lunchtime salvages a lot of afternoons.
04 · The bits that decide your day
Head, Hands and Eyes
Small items, disproportionate consequences. This is the section people get wrong most often.
HelmetMandatory
Required at every club session, without exception. If it has taken a serious knock, replace it — the protection is designed to be used once.
GogglesEssential
The most important piece of kit on this page after the helmet, and the one most often got wrong. See the note below on flat light.
Spare lens or a second pair of gogglesRecommended
A dark lens for the bright days and a light one for everything else. Goggles that fog or ice up mid-morning are finished for the day.
Gloves or mitts, plus a spare pairEssential
Mitts are usually warmer than gloves for younger skiers. On the damper days they can be wet through by eleven o’clock, so the spare pair is a game-changer to ensure your trainee enjoys the afternoon.
Two buffsEssential
One will be damp from breathing through it or weather conditions, so being able to change it out for a cosy one will win the day.
Flat light — read this one
Flat light when the cloud and snow are the same shade of white, with no shadow to show you the bumps means you need to “use the force”. A dark google lens makes it worse. If you can, get a low-light lens — yellow, amber, rose or a high-contrast tint, with a high VLT (the percentage of light let through; look for 50% or more). It will not create contrast that is not there, but it will show you far more of the ground than a mirrored lens bought for a week in the Alps.
05 · What goes on your back
In the Pack
Getting the right sized day pack and making the kids carry it is under-rated. That’s where the food and the warm, dry clothes live. It’s like carrying a new version of yourself for the afternoon. None of this is heavy; most of it gets used.
A day packEssential
Around 20 to 25 litres — big enough for lunch and a spare layer, small enough to ski in comfortably. We’ll most likely drop it at The Sheiling where we’ll meet for lunch.
Lunch and snacksEssential
More than you think. Cold weather and a full day of skiing burn through energy quickly, and a hungry skier stops learning long before they say so. You don’t need us to tell you this but please do pack a flask with something warm and tasty inside.
WaterEssential
Easy to forget when it is cold. Dehydration in winter is quietly common, especially when you’re working hard.
Dry bagsRecommended
Two or three cheap ones. They keep the spare kit spare, which is the entire point of carrying it.
Sun creamRecommended
If you are feeling optimistic — but snow reflects a great deal of UV, and a bright day on the hill catches people out even in February.
Lip salveRecommended
Wind and cold do more damage to lips than sun does. Keep it somewhere you can reach with gloves on.
Season pass or day ticketEssential
Don’t forget your ski pass. Remember which jacket it’s in. Season passes come from Cairngorm Mountain, and the Early Bird rate usually runs to the end of November.
A few first aid bitsOptional
Plasters, blister patches, painkillers, a hand warmer or two. Coaches carry first aid kits, but a blister plaster in your own pocket saves a trip down.
Label everything
Put a name in the helmet, the goggles, both gloves, the bag and the jacket. On a club session there are a great many near-identical blue jackets, and lost property is a sad place.
A few more things worth knowing
Check the mountain before you set off. Cairngorm Mountain publishes a lift report each morning. The funicular and the tows occasionally go on wind hold, and which lifts are turning decides where a session can run.
Dry everything overnight. Boots, gloves and buffs especially. Kit that starts the day damp will be wet within the hour, and cold after that.
Try new kit before you need it. New boots, a new helmet or an unfamiliar pack should have their first outing somewhere you can take them off, not halfway up a T-bar in a hoolie.
Ask. Every family at a session has been through this, most of them recently and on a budget. If you are not sure what your skier actually needs, email coaching@cairngormskiclub.co.uk or simply ask at the next session.