Lecht

Lecht is a family-friendly ski area located in the Cairngorms National Park and is home to the best beginner terrain in the country.

weather Forecast today: Rather cloudy

Max temp: 2.6 °c
Min temp: -1.6 °c
Last snowed: Wed 08 Jan

Last Updated: Wed 22 Jan

weather Forecast today: Rather cloudy

Max temp: 2.6 °c
Min temp: -1.6 °c
Last snowed: Wed 08 Jan

Last Updated: Wed 22 Jan

25%Easy

45%Beginner

25%Intermediate

5%Advanced

Although it possesses a modest vertical, there is a surprising amount of variety at Lecht and the learning facilities are first class.

Lecht has been boosted by the purchase of an all-weather TechnoAlpin snowfactory, which can produce artificial snow at any temperature to ensure the beginner slopes are covered in the white stuff throughout the season. In good snow, the runs off the Buzzard and Harrier drags offer decent challenges for intermediates upwards.

Beginner
Fast lifts
Intermediate
Resort Activities
Advanced
Aprés
Snow

Pros and cons

Fantastic beginner terrain and learning facilities
Reliable snow on beginner slopes thanks to snowfactory
Doesn’t suffer from the wind issues at Cairngorm
Numerous accommodation options in the National Park

Limited terrain for advanced skiers and boarders
Lower altitude than other Scottish ski resorts
Access roads are prone to closure during snowstorms
Aside from the Day Lodge there is little else on the hill

On the Slopes

The Day Lodge is the hub of the resort and is home to the resort’s offices, catering and ski hire facilities, but aside from this there is nothing up on the hill. You’ll need to stay either side of the Lecht Pass (note that the A939 road is prone to closure in bad weather) as there is no accommodation on the mountain. On the Inverness side there is the small village of Tomintoul seven miles away or Grantown-on-Spey twenty miles down the valley, whilst Royal Deeside and the towns of Braemar and Ballater lie on the Aberdeen side of the pass.

As with all Scottish resorts, conditions can at times be unreliable (although the snowfactory has mitigated against this somewhat), but on a good day, skiing in Scotland can rival the world’s best – and you’d be certainly hard pushed to find more spectacular scenery. For this reason stay as flexible as possible and be prepared to drop everything and dash to the mountains when conditions are good!

The runs at Lecht sit either side of the A939, with the majority on the westerly slopes to catch the drifts from the prevailing winds. Immediately outside the Day Lodge are some fantastic beginner slopes, supplemented by a snowfactory and snow machines to ensure reliable coverage. Progression on to longer, but still gentle runs is great – particularly near the Eagle lifts.

Steeper challenges can be found off the Buzzard on the other side of the road or off the Falcon and Harrier drags.

Lecht has fantastic beginner facilities, which crucially are located right outside the Day Lodge – perfect for a warming break from the slopes on a cold day. The magic carpet makes access even easier for first timers and the addition of the snowfactory has made a huge difference to snow reliability.

Progression on to the gentle blues by the Eagle drags is then very good.

The Snowy Owl chairlift serves most of the resort’s blue and red runs, making this a great place to head to if draglifts are not your thing. Although more limited in extent and vertical than at other Scottish resorts, the runs have decent variety, particularly when the Buzzard side of the hill is open.

>Unless the Harrier and Buzzard lifts are open there is little to entertain more advanced skiers and snowboarders. That being said, there can be some fun off piste lines in between the marked pistes and the resort also sets up terrain park features when conditions allow.

In the Resort

On the hill the Day Lodge is the hub, it serves food, does ski hire and is home to the ski school. Aside from this there is very little else and the nearest accommodation is located in the small village of Tomintoul, some seven miles to the northwest, on the Inverness side of the pass. There are some small hotels and several B&Bs and at the Glenavon Hotel there is a cosy bar.
For greater variety of accommodation and things to do you may want to look slightly further afield to Grantown-on-Spey to the north and to Ballater or Braemar to the south. If Speyside whiskey is your thing head to the former, but we’d recommend staying south in Royal Deeside, home to the Queen’s summer residence of Balmoral. There are plenty of places to stay, including in cottages located on the Royal estate itself – few ski areas could claim to have that on offer! Staying south of Lecht also makes the drive over to nearby Glenshee a lot quicker, giving you options if roads are closed.

For Families

The quality of the beginner facilities makes Lecht a very appealing resort for families. However, away from the slopes there is not a huge amount going on – come here for the stunning scenery, peace and quiet and maybe an explore of Royal Deeside.

For Après

The bar at the top of the Day Lodge has a good atmosphere at the end of the ski day, particularly when the resort is busy and the snow is in good condition.
Otherwise, après is a very low key affair that focuses on the small pubs nearby.

Season Dates

Scotland aims to ski from mid-December until mid-April – conditions are sufficiently varied that resorts often do not provide formal opening and closing dates.

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Resort (637m)

	Wed 22 Jan			Thu 23 Jan			Fri 24 Jan			Sat 25 Jan			Sun 26 Jan			Mon 27 Jan			Tue 28 Jan			Wed 29 Jan			Thu 30 Jan			Fri 31 Jan
	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night
Weather	Rather cloudy	Broken clouds	Partly cloudy	Rather cloudy	Light rain/snow	Partly cloudy	Snow	Light rain	Light rain/snow	Mainly fair	Generally clear	Broken clouds	Generally clear	Occasional snow	Light snow	Light rain	Light rain	Light rain	Light rain	Occasional rain	Occasional rain	Light rain	Occasional rain	Rain shower	Occasional rain	Occasional rain	Light drizzle	Occasional rain	Generally clear	Light rain/snow
Wind
Snow expected	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0.3 cm	0 cm	3.9 cm	0 cm	0.2 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0.2 cm	0 cm	0.3 cm	2.4 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm	0 cm
Max temp	2.2°c	2.6°c	0.1°c	1.1°c	1.5°c	1.2°c	2.8°c	3°c	2.2°c	1.2°c	1.4°c	0.2°c	0.7°c	0.8°c	0.5°c	3.5°c	3.6°c	2.9°c	3.3°c	3.6°c	2.8°c	3.6°c	3.6°c	2.4°c	3.6°c	3.6°c	3°c	4.5°c	4.6°c	2.8°c
Min temp	-1.4°c	0.1°c	-1.6°c	-2°c	1.1°c	0°c	-0.6°c	2.2°c	1.4°c	-0.1°c	0.2°c	-0.4°c	-1.2°c	-0.7°c	-0.7°c	2.1°c	2.9°c	2.2°c	2.2°c	2.8°c	2.2°c	2.4°c	2.4°c	2°c	2.4°c	2.7°c	2.7°c	3.2°c	2.8°c	2.5°c
Feels like temp	-1.4°c	2°c	0.1°c	-2°c	-2.7°c	-1.8°c	-6.2°c	-2.6°c	-4.4°c	-6.2°c	-4.6°c	-5.3°c	-5°c	-3°c	-5.5°c	-2°c	-0.4°c	-0.7°c	-1.5°c	-0.4°c	-1.2°c	-1.5°c	-0.2°c	-1.1°c	-1.8°c	-0.6°c	-1.3°c	-0.6°c	1.3°c	-0.3°c