Stunning views and spectacular skiing on offer at Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park

Going for gold in the Cairngorms.

There’s snow in them thar hills, I say in my best John Wayne voice. From the rear-view mirror,

I see my eight-year-old cast me a quizzical glance before returning nonchalantly to her tablet.

She’s accustomed to her 50-something mother’s ‘old-timer’ quirks, but the gold rush reference to The Duke film Blue Steel flies right over her head.

Nonetheless, I’m hoping to strike it rich in the fun stakes. We are heading into Scotland’s Cairngorm National Park for her first ski experience and my return to the piste after a 10-year absence.

The panorama from the car is breathtaking craggy icing sugar-dusted mountains piercing an azure sky. Heaven.

We had booked a two-night half-board package with the family-friendly Hilton Coylumbridge Hotel near Aviemore and two days skiing with Natural Retreats and cairngormountain.org.

Their partner, The Ski School, lays claim to being the best in Britain and the only one based on the Cairngorm mountain.

My daughter is signed up for the beginners’ class while I plan to independently rediscover my long-lost ski legs on the nursery slopes. What could possibly go wrong?

We are suitably togged-up; junior in her funky, super-light, warm ski-suit and yours truly hauling her size 16 hips into something a little different.

I had asked my eBay-daft, ex-army husband to buy me a bargain outfit that I could happily discard should my efforts to get back into the sport fail.

And he duly obliged with a hooded, camouflage-effect ensemble.

“You might blend in a bit,” he warned, “so be careful”.

Anonymity is fine by me. The less attention I draw to myself the better. Top of the mountain here I come!

As my little one joins the excited gaggle of Ski School boys and girls, I tackle my first challenge Scotland’s only funicular railway, capable of scaling 1,000 metres in just four minutes.

Its hi-tech turnstile gates automatically scan a chip carried in each ski-pass except mine.

With around 100 impatient people in the queue behind me I struggle to get through.

Cue funicular operative Eamonn Coombes: “Have you got a mobile phone in that pocket?” he asks. “It won’t work if you do.” I splutter a ‘yes’, open the pocket and its contents spill onto the floor.

As I bend down to pick them up the sensor detects my ticket and the turnstile swings round, bumping my backside and catapulting me into the crowd. Mr Coombes, like the other onlookers, makes no effort to conceal his hilarity. I giggle too the only thing that’s hurt is my pride.

Near the top, on the Coire na Ciste, the visibility is poor and from the summit (1,245m) the wind is gusting to 53mph.

I head over to my little one to see how she is faring. All I can hear above the wind is, “Pizza, pizza, pizza…” and there she is, making the shape of a pizza segment with her legs in an effort to stop and turn in the soft snow. Her face says it all. She is having a blast.

I leave her to it and disappear into the mist, hood pulled tight around my masked face, when I feel a tap on my back.

A voice says: “Hey, you look like Special Forces. I’m lost, can you help?”

My confusion suddenly gives way to a dawning awareness that hubby bought my suit from Army Surplus!

On realising his mistake my questioner takes off. Alone with my embarrassment I decide to try the Ciste Fairway a green or easy run.

To my surprise it’s a piece of cake; not a pizza in sight. My skis are as they should be practically parallel and in no time at all I’m ready for the tougher blue and red runs.

The clouds part, the sun shines through and Loch Morlich appears below against a backdrop of crumpled hills and blue sky. I’m so awe-struck I have to stop to take it all in.

My little one meantime is skiing through hoops, quite literally and loving every minute of it thanks to the avalanche of enthusiasm and expert instruction from Katie Jachacy, Tasha Burley and Fiona Newman.

Little does she know that this was the early training ground for three-time GB Olympian Lesley McKenna, who grew up in Aviemore.

Lesley who is the only UK snowboarder to have ever won a half-pipe World Cup event loved as a child to ski the East Wall of Coire na Ciste. Following her dad, she would listen eagerly as he told her the sparkles in the ice-cold air were “fairies”.

In her endorsement of the slope Lesley says: “From that day on I was hooked on the steep and deep!”

The younger they start the better. And Edinburgh couple Rob Thorburn and Suzy Enoch who run Circus Alba are proof of that.

The 35-year-olds are on the mountain with their six-week-old-baby Elodie and this is her fourth visit. Their other daughter Juliette, six, started skiing two years ago. Rob, who like Suzy is from Aberdeenshire, was on skis as soon as he could walk.

Elodie sleeps soundly in her carrier outside Scotland’s highest restaurant, The Ptarmigan (1,097m), as Suzy beams: “She’s quite happy in this environment. She’s a little star, just like Juliette.”

There are a total of 32 mountain runs to choose from enough to keep everyone happy. Equipment hire and ski pass collection is also an easy process, but advance booking and early arrival are advised.

With our break at an end and my daughter giving her mountain debut a 10 out of 10, we head back to base for the final challenge getting my ski boots off.

I ache from muscles I’d forgotten I had and rely on technician Eilidh Baxter to come to my rescue. As this golden girl whines and wishes she was 10 years younger, the lovely Eilidh beams: “You’re never too old to have fun!”

How true…

Two nights dinner, bed and breakfast for one adult and one child at the Hilton Coylumbride in Aviemore cost Sally a total of £338. Contact 01479 810661 or visit hiltonaviemore.com.

Ski packages include four hours’ instruction per day, lift pass and equipment hire (skis, poles, boots and helmet). Adult prices are £89 for one day ranging up to £356 for five days. Junior prices are £75 for one day up to £300 for five days. Contact 08455 191191 or visit cairngormmountain.org.