First opening in 1973, built mid-way along the A939 Tomintoul to Cockbridge road, the family-run Lecht Ski Area quickly became a favourite for families - providing best for beginners and intermediates.

Becoming well known for its friendly atmosphere and gentle slopes, the original pistes and lifts (so called after birds - the more difficult the run is reflected though the name of bird), were constructed on the north-facing grassy slopes of Beinn a'Chruinich - to the south side of the A939 - with a small cluster of base buildings and two carparks by the roadside.

With the grassy and heathery terrain, the Lecht doesn't require large amounts of snow in order to operate, and has the capabilities to operate with only a few inches of snow. As such, they can often offer good conditions, even in these situations. Consequently it is usually the first of the five Scottish resorts to open for the winter, which gives a distinct advantage over the other four Scottish ski areas.

In the late 1980s, bolstered by its success and growing following, the Lecht made the decision to expand its area onto the northern south-facing slopes on the side of the ski area now known as the Buzzard. Not only did this add mainly more red runs to the Lechts repertoire, but perhaps most importantly, the spread out nature of the runs as well as the large surrounding areas of hillside, enabled much more off-piste potential than could be possible on the 'main' south side of the ski area.

Further expansion was inevitable, and with the lack of any black runs, it was only a matter of time before the Lecht expanded out to the steeper ground to the west. The Harrier was an important addition, though owner James McIntosh's only regret was that the name 'Eagle' had already been taken. 'Harrier' was the next best thing, but he feels it doesn't represent the nature of the run.

For the 1990 season a purpose built emergency centre was constructed, and an important link in to the national electricity grid was created. Through use of generators, The Lecht had previously made its own electricity.

In 1994 the Lecht introduced snow making on the Eagle. Since then, the Lecht has had the addition of more snow cannons so that on the prone areas of the Eagle run, snow making has the capabilities to top up the base. There has also been installations along some of the lower slopes, and on the bottom sections of some uptracks. Six mobile snow cannons can also be mounted onto Kassbohrers, to allow 'portable' use.

In 1999 with the lift queues growing, another lift was necessary to help reduce crowds. The Snowy Owl three seater chairlift was built, improving uplift capacity, and providing sight-seers with a way up the hill. This development in turn helped spark other summer developments, including Deval Karts which use the chairlift for access to the top of the track. Other activities introduced included tubing (which is done in winter aswell), quad bikes, fun karts and kiddie karts. The dryslope matting on the Osprey also permitted some limited summer skiing, though this activity seems now to have ceased - at least for this year.

With the increasing popularity of freestyle, the Lecht undertook an operation to create a permanent terrain park near the Harrier, consisting of a half pipe, log slides, kickers amongst other things. This was dug into the ground in an attempt to make it useable in limited snow conditions. However, it seems to do more to repel snow, and so isn't often in use. Instead, each winter a seperate terrain park is usually built.

2003 saw the opening of another Poma lift, the Eagle 2, to double up the Eagle Poma, but starting above the steeper pitch. This was, again, to help reduce queueing in this busy area. 2004 saw another development at the Lecht, with the announcement of work to commence on a new Base Lodge, at a cost of approximately £900,000. This was to replace the current clutter of Base Station buildings, taking everything - including ticket office queueing space - under its roof. The old buildings were all demolished.

So what's next for the Lecht? On the lifts there has been some unofficial rumours and talk of possibilities for expanding the Lecht over the back of the hill. However, these are unrealistic and unlikely, though in the current area they are fast running out of space for further expansion. Perhaps another idea for development would be to make the road as snow repelling as the 'permanent' terrain park?!