In reply to summo:
> Unless you get a 1000m+ ascent any ski lift system that requires you to remove skis, walk around, head through a building etc.. is a failure. It's fine for tourists in summer, but useless in winter.
Yes, if infrastructure for skiing had been the driver they would have been better with a fast quad or 6-seater chair, or failing that a gondola. I think it's fairly clelar though that the driver was actually getting lots of tourists up there in summer to spend money in the cafe and gift shop.
It seems clear that Scottish ski centres are going to have to change their business model to survive, and some of them have been improving their infrastructure for downhill and trail biking, notably Glencoe and Nevis. As someone else said, there are planning restrictions at Cairngorm preventing them from doing that. Given those restrictions, the funicular seems an even odder choice to me - if I were taking my parents out for a touristy day I would choose to take them up the gondola at Nevis or the chair at Glencoe over the funicular at Cairngorm anyway - you can get out, go for a stroll and look at the view properly rather than being trapped in the building.
The proposed triple chair at Glencoe from the OP's link looks great to me - but I may be biased because Glencoe is my closest and most often visited resort