Ski: Lecht 2090

📌 Ski centre near Tomintoul, Moray
★★★

🛠️ Harrier lift believed to be closed for the 2023/24 season. As far as I know, all other lifts can run if conditions allow.

With a dozen lifts clinging to both sides of the roller-coaster Lecht Pass between Donside and Tomintoul, Lecht 2090 has some of the best beginner areas of any of Scotland’s ski centres: gentle, sheltered from the wind and close to the excellent Day Lodge and café. The steeper slopes on the right of the piste map are also worthwhile, so in good conditions all abilities can find enough to do. Lift-served vertical is short and a top height of under 780 metres makes the runs vulnerable to thaws, but the grassy terrain doesn’t need deep cover and historically The Lecht has been a good bet for early-season turns.

Scroll down for our detailed guide.

🌍 Location

📌 Summit of the Lecht Pass (A939) (6 mi southeast of Tomintoul)

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NJ 247129

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 57.200783,-3.248164

❌ No public transport within 1 mi

🚗 Car park – access road has steep sections & closes not infrequently due to drifting snow or ice. Direct route from the Central Belt involves 4 high passes – A9 is preferable in difficult conditions

📝 Key info

🚡 12 lifts | ⛷️ 20 km | ↕️ Skiing range: 580-780 m

⌚ Roughly December to March, conditions permitting

🎫 Day lift pass: £38 adult / £20-25 child

🎿 Equipment hire: On site or in Strathdon to south

🔗 lecht.co.uk

⛷️ Slopes guide

Don’t miss… The Buzzard – good red runs served by a drag lift on the east side of the road, separate from the rest of the ski area and great for a blast in the afternoon sun.

The Lecht’s slopes are simply arranged up and down the valley sides either side of the Lecht Pass. Runs aren’t christened on the piste map, but they’re named at the base of each lift. Lifts are named after birds you’re likely to spot in the Cairngorms hill range. By far the most extensive aspect is to the west of the road; most of the main runs have a gentle start with a steeper section near the bottom, regardless of their grading.

Rising just over 100 m vertical directly from the entrance to the Day Lodge is the Snowy Owl / Eagle face. Popular blue runs are served by the fast Grouse Poma and the slow, old Snowy Owl triple chairlift – the splashes of new paint applied to the chairs aren’t fooling anybody. The Face on skier’s right had fun rollers on our December 2017 visit. Further to skier’s right, the Eagle, Eaglet and Osprey drag lifts provide access to 4 more cruisey blues.

Close to the base is the truly excellent beginner area, served by Scotland’s only two magic carpet lifts, a rope tow and the underused Kestrel Poma. The gentle green runs are covered by a cheaper lift pass, are supported by snowmaking and also incorporate the new Penguin Park (a child-friendly learning area) installed quietly in early 2016, helping the Lecht cement its reputation as Scotland’s leading ski destination for novices. A rail park is usually set up underneath the chairlift, served by one of the carpet lifts.

Back at the top, to skier’s left of the Snowy Owl Chairlift are the steepest slopes on the hill: the Falcon & Harrier reds and solitary Harrier black, served by eponymous drag lifts. Irritatingly these (and the Buzzard Poma) often only run “subject to demand”, which in reality seems to mean “only when it’s busy”. Large kickers are set up at the top in good snow conditions, perhaps ending rather abruptly in an area of peat hags (well, it’s Scotland!). You can also ski back to the rest of the area by following one of a couple of blue traverses: Lang Stracht is a bit flat, but the lower A9 road is the fast route back home (said no-one ever – Ed.).

All the runs on the west side of the road face directly northeast and gather snow well in southwesterly storms; conversely, if precipitation arrives from the North Sea the winner is the Buzzard area across the road. Served by – you guessed it – another drag lift, this is inconveniently sited a bit of a schlep above the valley bottom, so you have to carry your skis up to the lift base. As a result, the two excellent Buzzard reds and blue home run here tend to stay quiet for a while after opening, at least until people have summoned the energy to walk up.

❄️ Snow & weather

Height is an obvious weakness regarding the Lecht’s snow reliability. A top height of about 780 metres is often insufficient to escape rain and thaws, even in mid-season, and almost all runs return to base: so there needs to be snow at Day Lodge level for them to open, even if there’s better cover high up. On the plus side, even a few solid centimetres can be enough to cover these smooth and grassy slopes, and the proximity to the Moray Firth helps the area benefit from convective snow showers during cold, northerly winds. Furthermore, new snow guns and a Snowfactory (which produces artificial snow even at temperatures above freezing) help ensure cover on at least the nursery slopes. This is also the most sheltered location of any of the five Highland ski areas: there’s a good chance that the Lecht will still have lifts running even if nearby Cairngorm Mountain is stormbound.

👪 Queues & facilities

School holidays are really the only time when the Lecht can get really busy, with visitors coming across from Aviemore (sometimes because they’re fed up with queues at Cairngorm). If Cairngorm closes due to bad weather, this can also mean an influx of skiers – causing some queues for bigger lifts such as the Grouse Poma. Even these wait times are rarely for more than a few minutes provided most lifts are open. Queues are rare during termtime due to the remote location, and this is a good weekend bet as most Scots have other ski areas closer to hand.

Ticket office, equipment hire, ski school and the café all operate out of the large Day Lodge; the latter is large enough to cope with most busy days, and has good views out onto the nursery slopes. If you’re unlucky enough to queue for equipment hire, at least you’ll be waiting in the warm and dry (unlike at Glencoe, Glenshee and Cairngorm). Tomintoul is 7 miles to the north for overnight stays.

🥜 In a nutshell: Snowsports in Scotland

>> Want to know more about Scottish snowsports in general? Check out our overview page.