In addition, the lower, rolling nature of Scottish mountains opens a vast amount of terrain for backcountry touring. This is especially true of the Cairngorms National Park, where the three resorts in the region offer a huge range of back bowls and untouched terrain. Aviemore and Cairngorm Mountain is home to the Scottish National Outdoor Centre at Glenmore Lodge, providing instruction on a range of mountain activities in both winter and summer.

Even though the snow conditions can be variable, the outdoor pedigree of the central highlands remains unmatched almost anywhere in the world. Bring your hiking or mountaineering gear and get lost in the stunning beauty of one of Britain’s most incredible regions!

Cairngorm Mountain

Situated to close to the town of Aviemore and home to the Scottish National Outdoor Training Centre at Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore and Cairngorm Mountain is a hub for Scottish and British outdoor activities.

Cairngorm Mountain is Scotland’s favourite resort, with a well-developed surface lift system opening up two bowls (or “corries”, from the Scots Gaelic word “coire”) with a wide variety of terrain available for all abilities.

The Day Lodge at the base offers a café, shop, hire facilities and public facilities. Unfortunately, Cairngorm Mountain Railway, a funicular taking tourists, hikers and skiers year from from the Day Lodge to the saddle below Cairn Gorm peak, is once again out of service, despite a multi-year, multi-million pound recent refurbishment. Capacity remains good, however, on all but the busiest of days.

Variable snow conditions are supplement by a good snow-cannon system in place at the resort’s base, meaning the lower nursery slopes are always open through the winter for those looking to start or tune-up their skiing experience!

Cairngorm Mountain can act as an access point to the entire Cairngorm plateau, opening up touring opportunities for those that like to go uphill as well as down.

Regular trains and buses run from all over Scotland – and indeed the UK – to Aviemore, a bustling highland town. From here, regular buses or a taxi takes you the 10 miles to the resort base

Glencoe Mountain Resort

Lying in the famous Glen Coe valley just south of Fort William, close to the formidable Rannoch Moor, Glencoe Mountain Resort acts as a gateway to the highlands for a range of outdoor activities year-round.

With a dry slope at the resort base, Glencoe can offer skiing year-round. For the truly hardy, camping pitches and micro-huts make up for the distance to town – Glencoe or Bridge of Orchy villages are about 13 miles away in each direction, Fort William 30 miles distant.

The resort base offers plenty of parking and a café, kit hire and public facilities. There are then two more “bases” on the hill itself, with the Plateau Café next to the sledging and transceiver parks and hosting a first aid post as well as public facilities.

On the hill, there is a good variety of terrain but geared towards beginners, with plenty of blues and greens down the west side of the main basin and onto the plateau in the middle of the hill. If the conditions are good and the snow cannons have been allowed to do their job, access is available right to the base. The eastern side of the basin offers some brilliant tougher stuff, with Flypaper being one of the best steep runs in Scotland. From the summit of Meall a’Bhuiridh you can reach Dragon Bowl to the west, offering an adventure for even serious skiers – be warned, it is a considerable hike back up once you’re in!

The base café has re-opened for the 2023/24 season after being gutted by fire in December 2019, a welcome return for visitors all year round.

Glencoe Mountain is comparatively isolated, with few public transport options available. It is a reasonably easy 3-hr drive from Glasgow, or around 45 minutes from Fort William, the nearest major town.

Glenshee

Nestled in the southern edge of the Cairngorm Mountains National Park, Glenshee Ski and Snowboard Centre is Scotland’s largest resort, covering two faces either side of the A93 at Cairnwell Pass, part of an historic network of 18th century military roads and now the highest A-road in the UK.

The western face, serving Butchart’s Coire (from which we take the word “corrie”, or bowl) offers a fantastic range of terrain from the summit at Carn Aosda all the way down to the resort base. The ridge leading to the Cairnwell summit on the southwestern boundary provides access to some classic bowl lines through Thunderbowl and back to the base, as well as opening up the bowl to the west.

To the east, a network of surface lifts takes you up and over into Coire Fionn Bowl, where the Glas Maol poma takes you up close to the summit of Glas Maol, the highest mountain in the local area. The West Wall area presents a good challenge to experienced skiers, with a tricky drop-in over the cornice to get back to the Coire Fionn and Glas Maol chairs, and the face of Coire Fionn a gentler experience into a gully and back to the same lifts. Glas Maol run itself is considered one of the best runs in Scotland.

Both sides of the resort offer public facilities and a café on the mountain, at the focus point of Butchart’s Coire on the western side and at the base of Cainlochain lift on the eastern. The resort base itself offers public facilities, a café, ski school, and a hire shop – note that hire kit has to be booked 48hrs in advance due to high demand!

Glencoe Mountain is comparatively isolated, with no public transport options available. Most major Scottish cities can be reached in between two and three hours by road. The A93 which serves the resort is subject to delays and closure during winter weather; plan ahead and drive carefully!

The Lecht

Lying alongside the A939 road in the north-eastern Cairngorms, The Lecht is the smallest of the Scotland’s five alpine resorts. However, its proximity to the towns of Aberdeenshire and Moray make it a useful resort for many, and it is able to offer better snow surety than some others.

The resort occupies two faces either side of the A939 Lecht Road between Cockbridge and Tonitoul – infamous for being closed in the winter due to the snow, modern clearing techniques and changes in weather patterns means access is far more reliable in all conditions.

The southwestern face is the resort’s main skiing area, reaching from the Harrier chair on the summit of Beinn a’ Chruinnich and running along the ridgeline heading southwards to the Eagle 1 & 2 lifts. Terrain variety is good for a small resort, with plenty of blues towards this southern end and a handful of good red and blacks emanating from the summit.

The north-eastern face is served by one lift, Buzzard, and opens up a pair of red runs back to the lift and a blue back to the resort base. The north-eastern face opens onto a gently undulating plateau, allow tourers and hikers the chance to explore the terrain beyond. Over the ridge on the opposite side lies a back bowl and gulley for the adventurous, although will require a long hike out!

At the resort base you can find the day lodge, with plenty of parking and a restaurant, toilets, first aid post and the Lecht Ski School. Equipment hire is available, and it is strongly recommended you book ahead (before 4pm the day before your visit) to secure your kit.

The Lecht is comparatively isolated, with no public transport options available. Inverness, Aberdeen and Aviemore are reachable in between one and two hours by road. The A939 which serves the resort is subject to delays and closure during winter weather; plan ahead and drive carefully!