Now rebranded as Cairngorm Mountain, the Cairngorm Chairlift opened in December 1961, heralding a new era of skiing and ski development in Scotland which has progressed for nearly sixty years. However, as we write this in 2016, global warming is taking its toll, with Scottish skiing becoming ever more unpredictable. Back in 1961, Cairngorm’s side facing chairlift was one of the few ever built and required a hardy bunch of men and women to work in extreme conditions to get the whole thing up and running – no better a bunch then, than members of the Creag Dhu Mountaineering Club. Spawned in the Glasgow shipyards, their engineering skills were impeccable and when coupled with the ability to ‘survive’ in a hostile environment they were ideal for the job. David Corbett was one of the Creag Dhu who ventured north to be engineer, car park attendant, ski patroller and eventually, office manager. He said at the time that he was probably the only office manager in the UK who needed an ice axe and crampons to get to work. David passed away in 2016 and his wife, Carol, kindly donated the Cairngorm Chairlift Cashbag that he carried up and down Cairngorm daily -a fabulous little piece of Scottish Mountain Heritage.