Travel: CairnGorm

Creating childhood memories is why our family is heading up a mountain in winter. There’s little snow, so we’re not skiing; we’re on CairnGorm for a fun ride – on the funicular. At 11 years old, the highest railway in the UK is older than our daughter, having opened on Christmas Eve 2001. As we ascend to the base station my own childhood memories make a sudden reappearance. Unfortunately they’re not pleasant, as I recall a terrifying ride on the White Lady chairlift, before being frog-marched to the summit to take weather readings while on a school geography field trip.

At the base station there are wonderful wood carvings by local chainsaw artist Iain Chalmers – great for kids to explore while waiting for Coire or Cairn, the two funicular carriages. I learn the names afterwards from the enchanting little story book Adventures on CairnGorm, which is now a treasured item bought at the obligatory shop.

As we leave the base station on the funicular, the incredible view emerges and most of us gasp and take pictures. The 2km journey takes around eight minutes, but can go faster or slower depending on the season and number of passengers. The “driver” shares plenty of information, but we’re too busy with the view to pay much attention.

The mountain exhibition, which is packed with a wealth of information about the environment of CairnGorm, explains how animals and plants manage to survive in this harsh sub-arctic climate. There’s plenty to keep children occupied and we spend a while at the pretend funicular, complete with TV screen, steering wheel and buttons to push.

Our camera is at the ready for the view from the outdoor terrace, but in the time we have spent in the exhibition the sky has changed from being a beautiful blue into, well, there is no sky. We are now in the clouds, it is windy and a blizzard has engulfed CairnGorm. We take refuge in the restaurant with tasty bowls of hot soup and by the time we are halfway thorough the weather has cleared. We are able to see several miles into the distance through the giant glass window and the scenery is once again breathtaking.

The journey back down is even more of a thrill ride as a lairy passenger tells his kids (loudly) the brakes aren’t working. It really would be marvellous if the track took us all the way down into Aviemore.

• The train is open daily (except Christmas Day). Opening times vary depending on the time of year. In the winter months when there is skiing the train opens at 9am (weather permitting). From May until the end of October the first train up is at 10:20am and the last train to the top is at 4pm.

Family day ticket (2+2) £29.40, (1+2) £20.50; adult £9.95, child (16 and under) £6.30.

Tel: 01479 861261, www.cairngormmountain.com