At Cairngorm Mountain Ski Area they use Coo-Var Glocote Fluorescent Orange paint for many of our Ski Patrol warning poles that are used for safety netting and rope lines during our winter season.
They rely on the paint to produce a strong bright colour which is vital in poor visibility and flat light but also in clear conditions.
They have tried various base coat colours such as a pale orange (Glocote orange and white mixed) light grey and white. The best colour which has been most successful is a dark pink.
They have found by using two coats of undercoat pink, two coats of Coo-Var Glocote orange along with the contrasting black then two coats of Coo-Var sealer varnish on both colours to be the best combination.
The varnish layer helps protect the colour from the UV but most importantly it helps protect the colour from the extreme weather that occurs in the cairngorm mountains ( which can be wind speeds in excess of 100mph along with ice, rain, snow, hail )
It also provides a smooth surface for when we have to clear the rim ice off when de-icing & clearing our pole markers for rope lines and netting.
They try to get 2 -3 winter seasons before repainting but that is purely dependant on the weather during the winter seasons and where the poles are positioned on site and how much the weather strips the colour.
They try to repaint around 50 - 70 poles preseason and tend to use around 3 to 4 litres per 50 poles so we can go through quite a lot !
