Roger Cox: Mar Lodge Ski Centre couldn’t keep up with high expectations

Mr Mitchell worked at Mar Lodge in the early 1960s, back when the Anglo-Swiss banker brothers John and Gerald John Panchaud were trying to use snowguns to turn one of the hills on the estate, Creag Bhalg, into Scotland’s first low-altitude ski resort. The Mar Lodge Ski Centre didn’t last very long in the end, perhaps because the primitive snow guns weren’t up to the job, perhaps because the location chosen for the resort occupied a “warm hollow” close to the fast- flowing River Dee. Either way, there were two disappointing seasons, 1963-4 and 1964-5, and then the project was abandoned.

Mr Mitchell gave a lecture on the history of the Mar Estate in Braemar recently, and Mr Kerr sent me a very detailed report of the evening, which apparently took in “the area, some of its worthies and tales of their doings, some of which could not be repeated on a Sunday night”. He also put me in touch with Mr Mitchell who in turn sent me a variety of mementoes from the old ski centre, including pictures of snowguns operating on the slopes in 1963.

“Pipes carrying water and compressed air were connected to the gun and sprayed together through the nozzle,” says Mr Mitchell. “I don’t remember if the ratio of air to water could be adjusted as per a carburettor, but the temperature had to be below freezing point for good results.”

In the pictures, the snowguns certainly seem to be working OK. One shot shows skiers enjoying a well-groomed run through some pine trees, while another shows a young couple gazing at a snowgun in awe, as if there’s a 50/50 chance it’ll turn out to be the Second Coming. Can’t say I blame them. If somebody could provide me with decent tree skiing in Scotland on a regular basis, I think I’d find religion too.

Even better than the photos, though, are the period ads, with their ingenious tagline, “Mar Lodge – it’s ‘MAR’VELLOUS”. One even features a little poem:

Isn’t it a pity that you’re in the city

with traffic jams to dodge

Get out of your fix – phone 216

For a drink and a meal at Mar Lodge

All of which makes you wonder: did the Mar Lodge Ski Centre really fail because of a lack of snow, as per the history books? Or could the marketing campaign have had something to do with its demise?

While we’re on the subject of skiing memorabilia, a sale of vintage ski posters at Christies auction house in London last month pulled in some truly eye-watering sales. The star lot, Roger Broders’ Les Sports d’hiver a St Pierre de Chartreuse, fetched £32,450, while Emil Cardinaux’s depiction of the legendary Palace Hotel in St Moritz cost its new owner £25,000.

If that seems like a lot of money, consider that Art Deco Alpine resort posters like these were typically printed on very flimsy paper, to be pinned up in train stations and pasted onto the sides of buildings. Very few remain intact, which is why they go for such astronomical sums.

Still, you don’t have to be a millionaire to decorate your home with these artefacts, or at least, with things that look a lot like them. London-based printers Pullman Editions produce limited-edition ski posters in the same iconic style for £395 (unframed). I suggested to their managing director Georgina Khachadourian recently that there might be a market for posters in a similar vein depicting the five Scottish resorts. She said there were no plans to make any at the moment, but that she’d keep me –ahem – posted.

In the meantime, sharp-eyed collectors should be on the lookout for the original flyers used to promote Mar Lodge. They depict a woman laughing at her skis as if they’ve just told her the best joke EVER. “This spectacular new ski-ing centre,” promises the text, “will provide Continental gaiety and up-to-the-minute comfort.” Pity it was for a limited time only.