I wasn't sure what to expect as I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that it was real snow…read moreinside (I'd never been to a real snow inside place!). It is basically just like you've gone skiing, so you need your full skiing outfit, or at least very warm clothes, gloves etc. You can hire all the kit there - boots, skis etc, and can hire clothing too if you want to. I was pleasantly surprised to see how big the slope was, and it's plenty wide enough to give you the room you need if your skiing is at the level where you really like to traverse the piste, rather than just bomb straight down it. There's pomma lifts at either side, and a jump at the top, if you fancy doing a stunt or two. It feels very safe - it's obligatory to wear a helmet, and the staff were really good at monitoring the lifts for people falling, and are also really helpful if you ask them anything. We went on a Monday night, and it was pretty quiet - there was room for everyone, and the other skiers and boarders were really respectful of each other, and of people taking lessons. Because it was a Monday, there was an amazing deal of 4 hours for £15, which was really excellent. Otherwise, the cost would be a bit prohibitive for me to want to do on a regular basis. We skied for a bit, then had some food in Bar Varia, which overlooks the slopes,and you can just clunk right in there with your skiing boots on, and then we skied some more, which made for a really excellent night all in. Bar Varia also do an impressive range of real beers - wheat beers and such like, which was pretty surprising for a bar that's in a shopping centre. I didn't want to beer and ski, but it certainly was tempting.

Went ice-climbing on 3rd Jan (conversion course for rock climbers, £30, 3 hours on wall includes…read moreall gear). Really super, and can now return for £15 inc axe/boot/crampon hire (take own harness and helmet) or £18 inc all gear. An inexpensive alternative to eg Ratho, for a change, or if fingers are sore. Exercises core, shoulders, arms, etc, without overloading fingers, snd it's such a laugh. Ta Hames for enthusiastic instruction. Because we were there, tried snowboarding beginner lesson (skills 1 £39). Bever planned to start snowboarding, but y'know! Have time, if not money, to learn a new skill so have now had 5 lessons, which is enough to ve allowed on main slope on your own - that's important, as slope plus gear can be as cheap as £15 for 2-3 hours if you go at clever times, exprnsive otherwise! 5 lessons ain't the cheapest, however, all gear is included (get there REALLY early in case they don't have your size, or you get broken gear by mistake. Some gear is a little shabby, many helmets are just plain broken, but you can choose those yourself from the shelves, so check all buckles, adjusters, etc. INSTRUCTORS ARE ALL EXCELLENT, can't praise highly enough for care, enthusiasm, differentiation, safety, honesty. Almost all staff will give you lots of gear advice... I suggest a couple of chats before you think of buying. My friend took her bew board along and got lots of setup advice including loan of tools. Super! Thanks Alan, Nic, Marty, Justin! You do need 4, maybe 5 lessons. It's tough after about lesson 2-3. But hang in there, and go with a friend at your level! My only caveat is check how busy the beginner slope will be - most of our lessons were great, but one was so busy, we couldn't practise without tangling with others. Check in advance!! We spoke to the manager about this, positively, and I have to say he listened to us and as a result this is definitely still a 5 star rating. Oh, the bar is quite good too, cheapish food, good place to dump non-boarders. Decathlon across the road sells "impact shorts" for £24 to protect lower back, much better quality than my cheap ebay obe which wasn't quite thick enough!

Apparently if you can learn to ski properly at Hillend, you can ski anywhere, due to the fact it's…read morea dry ski slope, which makes turning and all the rest just that bit harder, as if skiing wasn't hard enough in the first place. Well it is for me anyway, I've only just managed to figure out how to keep my skis parallel, and I still resort to Snowplough Fear technique when I'm on a slope I can't deal with. Anyway, Hillend is actually a really affordable place to learn to ski if you're in Edinburgh, and it has a whole range of courses for whatever level of skier. The actual ski space is fairly small, but to be honest, it's enough if you're just practising or learning, and you can't really compare a dry ski slope in Edinburgh to the choice of ski runs in the French alps. Hillend was facing closure a few months back, but there has been a big campaign by Edinburgh residents to keep it open, so hopefully it'll last the distance. Would be a real shame to see it close, as it's been a legendary bit of Edinburgh Pentlands scenery (with a purpose) for as long as I can remember.

I went to hillend at the request of a friend to give her some advice on how to ski, having grown up…read morein Switzerland and done teaching there for a few seasons I was happy to oblige. We had a couple hours of fun, the slopes are good and night skiing is really special. However just as we were about to leave an older instructor skied over and proceeded to tell me off. I actually apologised as I didn't know it is not allowed to give your friends advice but then it got personal and he told me that my friend was sliding all over the place, an offence apparently on a ski slope, and it was my fault for doing a bad job of it, he skied off before I could respond. I think that was uncalled for and that this particular member of staff was quite rude. The reason I was teaching my friend in the first place is because the two hour group lesson she paid for had over 15 pupils and the instructor couldn't even to begin to teach them as he had his hands full with one struggling student. Waist of money and time as all she got taught was to put her skies on. All in all, customer experience muddied by this rude member of staff and a confirmation that the beginner group classes are not worth the money, go private or go somewhere else.

britains highest railway to the ancient mines in the lowther hills which have been mined since…read morebefore the roman invasion ,nearby (across a couple of Glens anyway is the site of Merlins Grave so in history you are digging deep! The weans loved the train and the exhibition was interesting but i kept wondering why has it not been developed into a winter ski resort, the hills haqve beautiful slopes

This snowboard and ski store is alarmingly cool, so much so that when I crept in a few months ago…read morelooking for clothing for a ski trip to France, I felt woefully inadequate, as it was more than clear from my hesitant behaviour round the shop, and also the embarrassing moment when I crossed into menswear and tried on a man's ski jacket by mistake, that I was a huge amateur that's only just managed to conquer the art of keeping my skis parallel. That was a bit of a long sob story wasn't it? I'm giving you the chance to make a better impression than me, by telling you in advance how ridiculously awesome all the gear in here is (and that ladies wear is on the right of the shop, not the left.) They have the best selection of winter headgear I have ever seen, with some brilliant florescent numbers going on, plus snowboards and skis, and all the brands you would expect, like Burton, Analog and Oakley. I managed to get a fleece plus a Burton ski jacket in the sale, massive bargains, and they achieved the miracle of making me look cool on the slopes, well at least before I actually physically started skiing anyway.

I am from Colorado and wanted to buy a particular set of backcountry skis and bindings, in…read moremid-February, 2019. As this was mid-ski-season, I could not find any US-based shops charging less than full price (MSRP). Freeze Pro Shop (Edinburgh, Scotland) offered my gear at a 38% discount, with free shipping. I didn't want to wait for 2 weeks(+) for my gear, so I paid $45 for expedited shipping. I ordered my gear on a Tuesday afternoon and it was on my doorstep in Colorado on Friday morning... with bindings mounted!!! I'll be recommending Freeze Pro to my friends.