Newmilns Snow & Sports Complex

community spirit at Newmilns Snow & Sports Complex

Kirsty Hammond

A ski slope in Newmilns? It’s a question many people in the southwest of Scotland might ask themselves when they discover the existence of Newmilns Snow & Sports Complex, but for the people of the Irvine Valley, it’s been a permanent fixture for many years.

But how did it come to be here? I sat down with Bobby Pollock to ask that very question, a man who probably knows more about the slope than anyone else.

“The Loudoun Ski Club pre-dates the slope itself,” he tells me. “In the 1960s and 70s, there were many ski enthusiasts in the area and we’d organise buses up to the Scottish resorts, such as Aviemore, Glencoe and Glenshee. In those days, you could arrange these things in advance because you were always guaranteed snow.” Unlike in recent years, when Scottish slopes have taken a hit over warmer winters and unpredictable snow cover.

But while these trips were great, the committee wanted a dry slope they could use all year. As an active member and oftentimes President of the Club, Bobby had many meetings with Ayr County Council about the benefits of opening a slope in the area. “They were originally going to open a big slope in New Cumnock with smaller slopes dotted around Ayrshire, but Newmilns is the only site that came to fruition, opening in 1975.”

By 2000, East Ayrshire Council decided it wasn’t viable anymore and announced they were going to close it. Bobby, having been president of Loudoun Ski Club off and on for many years, couldn’t let that happen. “It wasn’t just me,” he said. “If I started to name everyone who was involved in the Friends of Newmilns Ski Slope, I’d be concerned I’d miss someone out. Many people gave a lot of time and energy to save the slope.”

When I asked what made him take on such an ambitious task, he laughingly said, “Stupidity! When I put my mind to something, I really go for it.”

After much fundraising and consultations, Newmilns Snow & Sports Complex took over the running of the slope in 2004, with Bobby as the Chair of the Board of Directors. In 2008, the organisation received charitable status. “We knew there were social enterprises out there, such as residential homes, but we didn’t know of any other sport-based charities that were run this way. But we went for it because we knew we could benefit our local community. Since then, social enterprises have become a global movement. Any profit made by the slope goes back into improving the facilities, paying staff the Real Living Wage and running projects for local people.”

Bobby stepped down as Chair a couple of years ago, handing the reigns over to Nathan Balls, a long-term committee member who has overseen many projects at the slope.

Nowadays, the social aspect is still going strong. As well as the usual skiing and snowboarding lessons you’d expect, there are many community sessions, too.

Rhys Jones is someone who has seen this impact first-hand. Starting as a volunteer when he was still at school, he is now a qualified ski and snowboard instructor, and works with young people on various projects.

“I’ve always lived close to the slope and would go skiing and snowboarding there after school. When I participated in the bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award, I chose to volunteer at the slope. Even after it was over, I kept volunteering there doing the odd jobs around the facility. Eventually, I was offered a job as tubing staff and from there I became an instructor.”

Six years on, Rhys now leads the Duke of Edinburgh volunteer group. “I hope it will have the same impact on them that it did for me; a love for the slope and staff, and to build up their employability skills.”

As part of the programme, the volunteers ski for an hour at the end of each session. “I’ve been teaching those who couldn’t ski before, and those who can ski already shadow me and learn what it’s like to teach. This creates interest in either becoming a ski instructor or a coach in another sport.”

Another project he runs is a Dungeons and Dragons group for young people who are disengaged from education, training or employment. While it might seem an unusual job for a ski instructor, the group helps people cope with their social anxiety in a relaxed and fun way.

“Once a week, we meet at the SL33 in Kilmarnock, where they have created a character and play in a role-playing campaign. It’s a getaway for the players that need to just step back from everything. D&D allows individuals to develop skills without even realising, such as empathy, problem-solving, critical thinking, and resilience.”

One of the biggest projects that NSASC runs is called Ski Academy. Every year, all the P6s in the local area attend a block of ski lessons and tubing. This year, that involved 191 pupils from Darvel, Newmilns, Galston, Hurlford, Fenwick and St Sophia’s Primaries for six weeks. The aim of these sessions isn’t just about learning to ski; it’s about giving the attendees the tools they’ll need to thrive at high school.

Rhys is one of the team who delivers these sessions. “The first week you will always hear that ‘tubing was better than skiing’, but a week or two passes and the kids fall in love with skiing. It’s especially rewarding to see the kids who don’t take to it immediately but who improve week on week, and seeing how resilient they are and how confident they become by the end. The connections you make with the kids are amazing as well. When they show up, they’ll shout whatever nickname they’ve invented for me and it always makes me happy.”

2025 marks fifty years since the slope opened, which as Bobby Pollock pointed out to me, means some families have three generations of skiers who have learnt at Newmilns. He would know, as his grandson currently takes lessons. On any dry day, his wife, Jo-Anne, can be found at the slope, weeding and gardening and generally keeping the place looking beautiful. Bobby might not be Chair anymore, but he is still a vital member of the slope community, not to mention its unofficial historian.

“Nathan and the current team are fantastic and are taking the slope from strength to strength,” he says. “It’s a great place and its future has never been stronger.”

It might be a quirky facility in an unusual place, but the Irvine Valley wouldn’t be the same without its ski slope. Here’s to the next fifty years!