Inaugural Lecht Winter Games Prove A Great Success

The inaugural Lecht Winter Games turned out to be an unbridled success, allowing both newcomers and existing participants the opportunity to try their hand at something new.

Held during the middle weekend of the Winter Olympics, thousands of people were inspired to sign up and attend sessions across all disciplines from alpine to nordic, snowboard to ski cross and more.

To see a short film about the event, please click here:  https://www.facebook.com/BritishSkiandSnowboard/videos/1722981727759638/

More than 2500 people attended the Lecht on 17-18 February, an increase of more than 35% on usual attendance figures for a good weather weekend. Good snow falls combined with the Technoalpin Snowfactory ensured the slopes were in fantastic condition for the event. The snowfactory utilises green energy produced by the Lecht's onsite wind turbine to produce snow enabling the Lecht Ski Centre, the local community and performance athletes to rely on this vital resource.

“We are extremely delighted with the turnout and amount of people who tried out all the different events that were taking place,” said James McIntosh, General Manager at Lecht 2090. “Everyone was happy and it was great to see.  All the comments we have had have been very positive.

“The airbag was a spectacular sight to see and the nordic cross country was also very popular.

“It was also great to have Burton here to promote our Riglet snowboards and see the future generation of young snowboarders out on the snow.”

The Lecht Winter Games were made possible through the collaboration of several partners and clubs coming together, including British Ski & Snowboard, Snowsport Scotland, Lecht 2090, GB Park & Pipe, Snowsport England, Ski Scotland, Huntly Nordic Ski Club, Huntly Nordic & Outdoor Centre, Aberdeen Snowsports Club, Gordon Skiers, Grampian Snowsports Club, Cairngorm Snowboard Club, Boarderline, Burton Snowboards, Aberdeenshire Council, Ski Scotland and Sportscotland.

"The Lecht Winter Games proved what is possible when Olympic disciplines, clubs, funding agencies and local businesses unite and collaborate,” said Mark Ritchie, Head of Talent for British Ski & Snowboard. “The outcome was positive progression and connectivity across many levels and the event showed how performance and recreational sport can integrate and have a major impact."

During the Lecht Winter Games:

• Gordon Skiers recorded over 500 timed runs from the public alpine sessions.
• Over 90 members of the public used the airbag which had been set up by the GB Park & Pipe Development Team who were in training.
• Nearly 100 people tried cross country skiing on specially-groomed tracks prepared for the first time at the Lecht.
• More than 70 kids aged 3-6 years old tried snowboarding for the first time at the Burton Riglet Park
• Over 40 kids received the first ever Futures Snow Award badges at the launch of the Futures Project.
• The ski and snowboard cross course proved to be a hit with many participants trying the discipline for the first time.

"Snowsport Scotland are extremely proud of the fantastic teamwork that went into producing a very successful Winter Games at the Lecht,” said Robbie Clyde, Chair of Snowsport Scotland. “British Ski & Snowboard, Lecht 2090 and Snowsport Scotland worked incredibly hard to ensure there were lots of opportunities to try a whole host of different snow sports and encourage a record number of people to take to the slopes. These types of events are vital to the growth of our sport and we look forward to the next one."