Amongst some of Scotlands most stunning scenery, Glencoe Mountain Resort is situated on Meall a'Bhuiridh. Going by its original name of White Corries, with the construction of the first over head ski lift on the mountain in 1956, Glencoe became the first commercial ski area in Scotland. Now operating 7 days a week and with an excellent snow holding capability and large variety of terrain, Glencoe remains a firm favourite in the hearts of many, as being a 'true' skiing experience.

The White Corries ski area started life with a failed prototype attempt by Bill Blackwood, in the area known as the Main Basin. This home-made attempt was replaced by a prototype Pomagalsi lift, at a cost of £2,500, that was installed by a group of enthusiasts. So in the early 1950s, for the first time, Scottish skiers could travel on a tracked Weasel from the valley to the snow and buy a season ticket on the tow.

It was then that Philip Rankin persuaded the Scottish Ski Club to build a proper tow. The result was a Breco tow, being installed during the summer of 1955 at a cost of approximately £5,000. This new tow had a capacity of 250 skiers per hour, and gave a lift of almost 300 metres. One member of the work party, Bill Smith, skied 34,000 feet in one day in 1957. That's an impressive 17 miles of downhill, and the first "Everest" achieved on a Scottish hill.

Due to problems, this poma was then replaced by the Top T-Bar. Following this, the original Access Chairlift was built, and the base building is still in situ at the top area of the carpark. This chairlift ran parallel to the one that is there today, and its foundations are still in position. The present chairlift was built in 1991, for the 1992 winter season, and the previous lift was later removed, probably in 1992.

Before long, there was a need for further development. The Cliffhanger single seater chairlift, built in the 1960s, became an important link between the Plateau and the foot of the Main Basin. The Wall T-Bar was also introduced. Further development since then led to other lifts including the Plateau Poma, which was constructed sometime during the 1980s, to provide uplift across the plateau.

Arguably the smallest of the ski areas but with the largest vertical, Glencoe quickly built up a strong following - mainly from the Glasgow area- but its size restricted numbers, and so one of its skier day records was 36,169 in 1991. This was even though the ski area only opened at the time between Thursday and Monday.

In 1994 was one of the biggest winters yet experienced at the Glencoe ski area. Snowsports were only just manageable, with snow burying the pylons in the Main Basin. As a result, JCB's had to be called in to help clear the uptracks. Traditionally Glencoe closes on 1st May each year (May day, incidentally, saw the cable on the Top T-Bar at waist height, such was the depth of the snow), but there was so much snow that they reopened again on the 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th of May, when they closed for the season, as unfortunately the Access Chairlift broke down. People skied in the Main Basin in late July down to the Canyon, meaning that snowsports into August may have been possible. Needless to say, the pylons in the top basin have since been extended in height!

In the mid-1990s the Glenshee Chairlift Company Ltd announced a merger between the Glenshee Ski Centre and the Glencoe Ski Centre, offering "the best from east to west". However, with the companies diversifying business venture, Glenisla Golf Course, being injected with money to make it a quick success, the necessary money wasn't invested into the Glencoe ski area to improve profitability. Eight years later, in the autumn of 2003 after a poor winter, low skier day figures, and crippled by debts, the Glenshee Chairlift Company Ltd was forced into receivership, and the Glenshee Ski Centre was demerged from the Glencoe Ski Centre, and the ski area went on sale.

Announcing their closure that autumn, many believed that it would be the end for Glencoe. However, in time for winter 2004, two buyers were found, and while that winter they only operated at weekends, on the 17th January, their opening day of the season, large crowds of people flocked to the slopes to show their support.

The ski area is currently working on methods of diversifying, with one of the ventures being the construction of a new downhill mountain bike track taking place this summer (2006) on the steep ground beneath the Access Chairlift.