Cairn Gorm  Cairn Gorm ("Cairngorm") (Scottish Gaelic: An Càrn Gorm, meaning "The Blue Hill") is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands overlooking Strathspey and the town of Aviemore. Cairn Gorm has a summit elevation of 1,245 metres (4,084 feet) AMSL and is the seventh-highest mountain in both the United Kingdom and the British Isles. Cairn Gorm gives its name to the mountain range and the National Park of which it is a part, The Cairngorms, despite that it is neither the highest nor the most prominent mountain in the range. These mountains were historically known as "Am Monadh Ruadh" (the Red Hills) rather than the Cairngorms. The domed summit of Cairn Gorm is one of the most readily identifiable mountains in the view from Aviemore.  600 hectares (6 square km or 2.3 square miles) of the north-western slopes of the mountain in "Coire Cas" and "Coire na Ciste" have, since the 1960s, been developed for alpine skiing. In 2001 a funicular railway was constructed to provide access through Coire Cas to the Ptarmigan building at 1087 m. The corrie south of Coire Cas, "Coire an t-Sneachda", is separated from the ski area by a ridge known as "Fiacaill a' Choire Chais". The southern slopes of Cairn Gorm overlook the remote loch known as Loch Avon (pronounced Loch A'an). There is an automated weather station (AWS) controlled by Heriot-Watt University on the summit of the mountain providing temperature and wind speed data. There is also a separate AWS run by the Met Office (synop code 03065). In clear, calm weather, the ascent of Cairn Gorm is a straightforward hike via the alpine ski area on the northern slopes. But when the mountain is stormbound, particularly in winter during blizzard and high avalanche risk conditions, any ascent or descent can be potentially lethal - particularly during "white-outs" when it is easy to lose one's bearings near the barren, featureless summit which is ringed in many directions by precipitous drops. In common with all the highest Cairngorm summits, ascents during winter conditions (which can and usually do extend well into springtime) will often require good navigation skills and winter climbing equipment such as crampons and ice-axes.