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The Lecht Resort Reviews

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Visitor reviews for The Lecht Ski Resort

The Lecht Ratings

Overall: 2.6. Based on 8 votes and 17 reviews. Vote

Snowsure: 2.6

(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) The Lecht is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.

Variety of pistes: 2.3

(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) The Lecht has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.

Off-piste: 2.2

(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.

Scenery: 3.4

(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.

Access: 3.8

(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of The Lecht.

Public Transport: 1.8

(1) There are no buses or taxis to The Lecht, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.

Accommodation: 1.8

(1) No places to stay in/near The Lecht, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.

Cheap Rooms: 2.0

(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.

Luxury Hotels: 2.2

(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in The Lecht.

Ski in/Ski out: 1.0

(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.

Childcare: 1.5

(1) There are no child care facilities at The Lecht, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.

Snowmaking: 2.9

(1) The Lecht relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.

Snow Grooming: 4.1

(1) There are no snow groomers at The Lecht, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at The Lecht are groomed daily.

Shelter: 2.6

(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) The Lecht is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.

Nearby options: 2.5

(1) If snow conditions are poor at The Lecht, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.

Regional rating: 3.0

(1) The Lecht usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.

Lift Staff: 4.0

(1) The staff at The Lecht are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at The Lecht are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.

Crowds/Queues: 3.1

(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.

Ski Schools: 3.8

(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.

Hire and Repairs: 3.0

(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.

Beginners: 3.7

(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.

Intermediates: 2.8

(1) No intermediate terrain at The Lecht, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.

Advanced: 2.0

(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.

Snow Park: 2.2

(1) Not even a kicker at The Lecht, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.

Cross-country: 2.3

(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around The Lecht, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.

Luge/Toboggan: 1.7

(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) The Lecht has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.

Mountain Dining: 2.2

(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.

Eating: 2.4

(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.

Apres-Ski: 1.6

(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.

Other Sports: 1.8

(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.

Entertainment: 2.4

(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.

Winter Walks: 2.5

(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.

Ski Pass Value: 2.8

(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.

Value (National): 2.8

(1) Overall, The Lecht is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.

Value (Global): 2.6

(1) Overall, The Lecht is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

Show all 35 ratings

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December 11, 2014
RyanM from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Been to the Lecht many times and always had a hoot. The owners are a lovely family; very friendly and helpful. Thankfully it is still family owned so they are not just in the game to make fast cash, unlike natural retreats aka 'the gorm'. A much smaller resort than 'the gorm', but cheaper and not as busy which means more runs and is also hidden from the wind that closed Cairngorm every other day. Best food in any resort in Scotland; well priced unlike the robbing fools at Cairngorm who are only interested in profits. Being over 1000ft below 'the gorm' height, they do suffer from lack of snow at times and have to make do with what they get.
August 09, 2013
Sam from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
We visited the Lecht in Feburary 2013. We were a mixed ability group, some complete beginners and some intermediates. We found a great mixture of runs for all our levels. Short, but I found more interesting than over at Cairngorm. No queues and we found an efficient system for hiring equipment. All in all, we had a great day on the slopes. We were staying in Tomintoul, just a few minutes down a very snowing road, which meant we had flexibility about which day we went. I strongly advise that future visitors show flexibility when visiting, as we waited all week for the right conditions (15cm the night before). This covered up all icy patches that you often find in Scotland. One more thing, I also advise potential visitors to check this website and the webcams before visiting, and not trust the Lecht website. Though personally I would only choose to ski in Scotland when there has been some fresh snow a day or two before, if there is no snow in the week, the conditions are most likely icy.
April 08, 2013
Peerie Mouse from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
We are a family of 5. One adult had skied many years ago, rest of us never tried before. We pre booked equipment and one lesson to start with. Ian was a great instructors and after 1 hour we were all hooked. Skied over the next 5 days, 2 hours instruction with Duncan each day (well worth doing this), he managed to accommodate both adults and all 3 children, all with varying ability and confidence. Ideal resort for our first experience of skiing, friendly staff, loved it all!
February 07, 2013
Matt from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
We visited the Lecht on the 6th Feb 2013. This was our first time Snowboarding in Scotland. We arrived late because the road from Tomintoul was blocked by 3 cars that could not get up the snow covered road - we hadn't expected this as the Lecht website had earlier said the roads were fine, they were anything but. No one was offered any assistance from the Lecht staff in their tractor and we eventually freed the cars ourselves. On arrival we hired our gear and were rather disappointed with the quality, the boots had certainly seen some hard times, were looking very ragged and didn't even lace up properly. Once on the slopes we were further shocked, the snow condition report on their site that morning said: "Main runs complete good cover of new snow, some icy patches. Ample areas for beginners.There is good snow cover across the whole ski area." In reality, all of the green runs were solid sheet ice that you could not snowboard safely on. The blue runs were considerably more difficult and as we are relativly inexperienced they were beyond our skill level. There is no good learner snow here, the green runs have no gradient and are only a few tens of metres long before they flatten out completely. There are no intermediate runs for beginners. Several other things that we were not impressed by: * No obvious signposting of runs or routes and no one around to help you out. * No maps of piste outside to let you work out where to go. * Car park snow clearance poor - massive drifts in the car park and no help getting out, a group of us had to get together to help each other out of the car park. * No information on road conditions posted anywhere and no staff who knew what was going on. We will not be going here again, ever; I strongly recommend you do not either. In contrast, the next day (today), we went to Cairngorm mountain and had a fantastic day on some great snow with good pistes and friendly, helpful staff. I hope this report prevents somebody else from wasting their time and money at the Lecht - go somewhere else instead!
December 24, 2012
Angus from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Visited the Lecht, super conditions for early season, staff friendly, slopes well groomed, catering excellent.
February 15, 2012
Sue from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Couldn't agree more with the previous submission. Avoid Avoid Avoid. This is a dreadful ski 'resort' - they reported snow as hard packed and patchy. It wasn't even that good but still they take people's money..... Dreadful!
February 05, 2012
mark from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Avoid, avoid, avoid. We have a timeshare at Hilton coylumbridge and ski at the Cairngorms each year. This year we decided to travel to the Lecht ski area, big, big mistake. They were open and showing 6 runs were open to ski. We paid and took the button lift to the top of a run where we were disgusted, none of them were skiable. They were in terrible, terrible condition, barely any snow cover at all. 3 of our party decided to try and make it down, others walked back. The 3 that did ski damaged there skis and needed them re-waxing and another was too badly damaged. We had to argue with the manager to cover the re-waxing, a new set of skis, and a refund of our tickets. All this took time to sort and ruined our whole day with our family.
February 05, 2011
Brian from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
I live near The Lecht and have had many fabulous days there when the conditions are good. I have also been there quite a number of times and have been very disappointed. Of course, the conditions are very changeable this being Scotland. However, what I take issue with is the conditions report from The Lecht. It is often highly optimistic and sometimes sheer lies. Today they claimed "Runs complete with packed snow some icy patches". The slopes were on fact 1 sheet of ice. If they were a bit more honest their valued customers would not waste their time when conditions are inadequate and believe them when conditions are fantastic.
November 23, 2010
Craig from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
I went to Nevis after Boxing day 2009 for my first attempt at skiing. It was a little too much as the nursery slopes were not ready. We went to The Lecht in Feb for 3 days and I'm returning over new year this year, it was fantastic. As a beginner The Lecht was brilliant with 2 nursery slopes running, and no steep walks to the slopes. The only problem was the queue for the hire, we got there early but still waited for 1.5hrs.
October 21, 2010
scott greig from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
The Lecht is awesome! I live in Perth, Scotland so I have a choice of Glenshee, Cairngorms or the Lecht but I always prefer to go to the Lecht as it is soooo much fun. They have good facilities and the terrain park is wicked. Glenshee is awesome too but if you go on a weekend it is a nightmare as you spend most of the day standing in queues for the lifts.