[Closed] Scottish people, can you tell me..

Police shut them I think. When they are shut there's no going through for anyone.

Which is why on occasion I've almost pissed myself rather than risk getting turned back off the A9. In general by that point it's a pure shite time to be driving anyway.

To be fair you should have fair warning that's it's going to shut. Ie weather forecast and snow falling are useful metrics

My limited experience of this. Can be announced in advance but there's generally not much warning. The weather on the higher altitude stretches of road can change quickly & the police will shut the gates. It's a hard cut, traffic is stopped & not allowed through. Its for a good reason as people will become stranded. The way to avoid this scenario is to have a look at the forecast & Traffic Scotland for information.

Where are you headed?

You would be daft to ignore things such as doom-laden weather forecast or try to somehow outwit the gates being closed.

TBF, they are not closed that often and usually overnight to give plough drivers a rest or weather out the worst of a snow dump.

So theyre unlikely to be locked off for a wee bit of snow, it would have to be proper tumping down before they get locked off? Been to Scotland in winter several times but never seen them used. The fact Glenshee has a ski lift area about 2 miles up the road from where I was aiming to go suggssts theres a good chance snow is likely.

So theyre unlikely to be locked off for a wee bit of snow, it would have to be proper tumping down before they get locked off? Been to Scotland in winter several times but never seen them used.

We have these things on trunk roads. They are pretty good at keeping things going, even in some pretty wild conditions. It takes a fair bit of crappy weather to stop them - then factor in many of us running winter or all-season tyres. I have followed these up A9 and waited behind while they ram deep snow banks on Rannoch moor before/

You can even track these big beasts and the smaller ones at https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=2de764a9303848ffb9a4cac0bd0b1aab

When the gates are closed and usually locked with a padlock, you won’t get past. I used to live north of Tomintoul, near the most frequently closed roods due to snow. Before they close the road they’ll do a sweep with a snowplough to check the road is clear before locking the gates behind them. I followed a snowplough down the road toward Glenlivet last winter - I was in a 4x4 - to get back home - and traction was getting marginal due to amount of snow. Other cars were turning around as it was obviously too difficult. The road was closed/ impassable shortly after. We were snowed in for over a week last winter as the section of road we lived on was drifted-in at both ends and the snowplough couldn’t get through as it was too deep. The main road a mile away was kept clear, but the drifts were over 2m on the side roads.

We have these things on trunk roads. They are pretty good at keeping things going, even in some pretty wild conditions.

The gates also get shut to allow those thing to clear the road and stop asshats clogging up roads with their abandoned cars. Also if they are shut don't park in front of them, that stops access for clearing and mountain rescue

Indeed.

Josh - I would watch the weather forecast more than anything. It not 'full on winter' every day, so I would not worry too much.

Gritney Spears is my favourite gritter name so far

If it is Glen Shee you are visiting, you can see current conditions live via the webcams here. They can give you an idea of what road conditions are like before you get there.

Andy McFlurry for the win.

There's a couple on and near the A7. I have lived here for six years and never seen them shut.
The road was closed for one day when the Beast of the East started but there was no way you were getting anywhere near the gates then!

Places like the glenshee road check the wind forecasts, it could be a nice day but the wind will  lift snow off the hill and deposit in the road, blocking it and then the gates close.

To be fair I think your appetite for driving on will wain before the gates close. I have been in horrendous blizzards on the A9, gates were open but it really wasn't fun, even on full winters and an empty road. Same on the 82. Unless it's the day after tomorrow, the ploughs will get things moving soon enough

Traffic scotland cameras are great

Police make the call on closing them, although Bear often assist with manning them. As bruneep says, sometimes it’s to give the gritters a clear run without stuck cars getting in the way. Other times it’s just too dangerous. Local residents might get through if we know them and know that they’ll be home before they hit the trouble spot (the gates are obviously miles apart) - chancers won’t be let through 😀

Closing them is an absolute last resort and is done for the minimum possible time. We have bosses and important people breathing down our necks the whole time they’re closed.

Glenshee gates are shut regularly if it is snowy at the top and there is any wind, very prone to drifting. The ploughs stop about 6pm from memory and if weather dictates gates will close at that point. Often not open till 10/11 the next morning. Braemar side tends to open earlier than Glenshee side. Where are you staying, there's not much between the Spittal and the slopes. There is a sign in Blairgowrie which should give live gate info but all available on tinternet.

Josh – I would watch the weather forecast more than anything

Me? I thought I said that? The comment about nearly wetting myself is based on the weather being attrocious and passing a laybye with the popo in it upstream of the gates.

The Glenshee gates are closed fairly regularly - pretty much whenever it snows. The road is the highest in the UK though at 670m. Having come up there from Braemar one evening in a snow storm I came sooo close to driving off the road at about 6mph as I just couldn't see anything. I was very lucky that a car came the other way at the right time and showed me where the road went. That was right at the top where the car park is. The gates were closed very shortly afterwards, they really should have been closed before I went through - I have never been so scared in a car. When the ski centre is closed it's remote and very exposed so generally they play it safe.

BTW from Braemar to the Spittal is 15 miles/25 mins. If the gates are closed the next best route is over the Cairn O'Mount and is 105 miles/2hrs 40 mins. If the Cairn O'Mount is closed then it's the Slug road to Stonehaven at nearly 3 hrs.

Anecdotally, it's the Cockbridge Gate that appears to get closed the most.

I once got caught between the gates on the Braemar - Glenshee stretch. I'd been out Munro bagging and got back to the car to find deep snow on the road - and a definite lack of traffic. I was heading South so managed to get uphill to the ski centre and there I stopped as the gates were closed. I had to wait in the car until the gritter/plough had come up from Blairgowrie and then follow him down the road. My Renault 19 Turbo and low profile tyres were, perhaps, not the best tools for the job.

"Luckily" I'd prepped the car with a sleeping bag, hot drink and food so I could at least wait out in relative comfort.

Don’t rely on the amount of snow. Drifting can have a big impact on weather a road is passable. So there may not be much lying but if the wind gets up things can change quickly.

@LD,
Right next to the Dalmunzie estate theres some lodges up on the hill . Stayed there last Halloween and would love to go back there.
Never underestimate the strength of local knowledge. Thank you all so far for your help. I'd be driving up from windy wet West Wales so would be pretty pissed off to get snowed off after 12 hours of driving.

I have followed these up A9

Better to be behind them than in front of them 🙂

I got bogged down in snow on the A9 one night - a short while later I could see the lights of the plough approaching  - hurray! saved.  He happily plowed his way past in the outside lane and built a nice big wall of snow and ice between me and the now clear carriageway . So I got to spend the rest of the night both stuck and kept awake by the traffic.

Which reminds me - I haven't put the spades in he cars...

Coming up from the south through Blairgowrie on the A93 the Glenshee snowgates are just beyond the turning for Dalmunzie and the Spittal of Glenshee.

Don’t rely on the amount of snow. Drifting can have a big impact on weather a road is passable.

That's what blocked the A835 last winter. I was up skiing the day after it reopened and there was very little snow lying as it had all been blown away. Then I saw the massive drift, obviously just a little hillock or something gave enough shelter for loads to get deposited behind it.

Fun fact about the Dalmunzie, they used to, late 90s, refuse to serve a lady a pint. They would give her 2 halfs and a pint glass if one insisted. Felt so much more classy than the Spittal, not that that would be hard.
Road to there should be fine but can still be challenging in the snow.

If the gates are shut then generally cars or gritters can’t get through anyway. The gate just stops you before you hit the deep bits.