UKC

Will be travelling to Glenmore Lodge from England in February. The obvious route once past Glasgow will then be up the A9 to Aviemore direction.

Does this road often get closed due to snowfall?

If so, then when coming from England and worst case scenario it is shut (fingers crossed its not) then what is the next best route to take???

I may be being totally stupid in asking this (no silly replies to that please) but thought I would just make a little enquiry.

Thanks in advance

In reply to Anonymous:

This is THE main road North South through Scotland so it is very rare for it to be completely closed due to snow.

In reply to Anonymous:

Don't know if there is one, I've spent a few nights in my car over the years in Blair Atholl when the snow gates have been closed.

In reply to bigbobbyking:

And unlikely that any alternatives would be open if the A9 were closed.

Prepare for a doss in the event the gates are shut. If you are lucky you will get there and then not be able to get back!

How many times has this happened over the winter season in the last few years????

Does anyone know?

What is the road like in comparison to the A82 to Fort William???

In reply to Anonymous:
Today had an inch or so of snow at Drumochter pass and I saw 1 jack-knifed and 1 stuck-in-snow lorry, so your caution is justified. It DOES get closed from time to time but not for very long. If you really really really need to get there you can drive via Aberdeen and Inverness and attack the A9 from the north, bearing in mind that the Slochd summit also gets a bit of snow.

In reply to Anonymous:

A rare event - you would have to be very unlucky.

In reply to Anonymous: I've driven it a few times in heavy snow and it has been OK, not easy but not blocked. Aviemore has a train station and the ski bus runs from the town almost to Glenmore.

In reply to estivator: Also if A9 is closed due to snow it is likely the A96 will be "challenging" and pretty busy. Plus it is a very long way round. Best to sit it out or make alternative plans.

In reply to Anonymous:

http://www.trafficscotland.org/lev/views.aspx

Also traffic reports on there.

Was coming south from Thurso en route to Glasgow Yesterday and A9 was closed just south of Aviemore due to snow. Had to spend the night in a B+B in Inverness. So It DOES get closed. My advice is check weather and traffic forecasts before setting off.

In reply to Anonymous: Its very very rare the A90 shuts, the A93 shuts quite regularly.

Also after the initial blizzards road open again within a few hours. I've driven the A90 countless times in blizzards, just sit behind a big wagon and drive in their tracks.

In reply to IainRUK:

Do you mean the A9 (Perth - Inverness) rather than the A90 (Perth - Aberdeen)?

In reply to Anonymous:

The bit from Blair Atholl onwards can be pretty mental. Once, in 1995, we were driving up the A9 near the House of Bruar in a uni mini bus. It was full- on white out. You couldn't see. I was wearing a helmet in the van it was that bad.
Jamie was driving, and even at 25mph we were going far too fast- a huge queue of stationary cars and trucks suddenly appeared about 20yds ahead. If we had tried to brake we would have gone slamming into the back of the queue so we had no option but to steer into the wrong side of the road (and pray nothing was coming the other way!). It was like Torville and Dean as we gracefully skidded sideways for about 200yds up road.

Davie

In reply to Wee Davie:

Indeed it can--we had a bit of a blizzard coming back that way on Wednesday, in fact!

In reply to Anonymous:
The A9 is THE way to go to Glenmore Lodge from the south.

You could check the forecast a few days before you are due to head up. If it looks terrible for the day of your travel, you could go up the day before.

If the A9 is blocked, chances are that other roads will be blocked too. In that case, alternative route finding will depend on what's open. The Perth - Aberdeen - Inverness - Aviemore route is the obvious secondary choice, but there's no point in trying that if the A9 Inverness to Aviemore is shut.

Of course, the motorways will now and then be shut, leaving you stuck in England...

In reply to Stuart S: Sorry yes, the A9, not the A90, never known the A90 to have any snow at all. My sister lives at Fettercairn so drive it a lot.

In reply to IainRUK: Fettercairn, just up the road from me

In reply to Anonymous: i was on the a9 on a similar route to you last week the gritters and snowploughs usualy are on there pretty handy because it is the main route to the north east.

In reply to lasonj: Had a meal out there last week, at 'Alistair's', lovely place, great food. Suprised to find such a good restuarant just tucked away.

In reply to Anonymous:

As stated above, it is very rarely shut. The thing most likely to shut it is the behaviour of drivers.

There are times however when visibility reduces to zero and there is no chance of it staying open. If you ever have to pull over and climb into your sleeping bag, make sure you are completely off the road (unless you feel comfortable with a 26 tonne snowplough up your ar5e).

Normally, even during moderate to heavy snowfall, so long as enough experienced Highland truckers keep going and the cops dont lose their bottle, it'll be fine. Loads of local truck traffic on Friday afternoons, so this may be a good time.

Once it shuts, the struggle is getting it open again. The bit in Perthshire is dual carriageway and twice as much work.