What does ‘Christmas in the Cairngorms’ conjure up for you? Snow, smiles, stunning scenery and sitting rosy-cheeked by the warmth of the wood-burning stove after exhilarating outdoor activities? These happy holiday days with family and friends around Christmas and New Year provide an essential glow during the long winter months, and the Cairngorms provide the perfect location in which to create long-lasting Christmas memories. There are plenty of opportunities for the kids to meet Santa too – even 200+ Santas on the annual Aviemore Santa Run!
So what do the local HPL team like to get up to over the festive season? HPL Directors Tanja and Judith share their perfect days with us …
Judith’s perfect day ...
‘My perfect festive day starts with the Aviemore Santa Run, a wonderfully Christmassy event where the main street through Aviemore is closed off for locals and tourists to don their Santa costumes and run a mile to raise money for Disability Snowsports UK. People and even dogs of all mobility and ability join in, the Christmas tunes are blasting – it's so much fun! There's something quite surreal and heart-warming about seeing a pack of hundreds of Santas running down the road with red jackets flailing! After devouring a burger, there's then time to scoot up to the slopes for a slide on Cairngorm Mountain if we're lucky enough for it to be open pre-Christmas. Skiing with my family and watching the delight on their wee faces as they make their way down the hill is just brilliant. A hot chocolate at the Ptarmigan Restaurant at the top of the mountain is an essential treat to round off the day. After such an active day, I love an evening in front of the cozy wood burner, a good movie and a Caorunn gin in hand.'
Tanja’s perfect day ...
‘For me you can't get any better than cantering a horse through the deep, deep snow in the valleys with the white mountains towering above you. I realised when I moved north to live here that I've travelled all around the world to ride horses in stunning scenery when I could have just come to Scotland! Also great on a mountain bike too! I love taking my kids to the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre as the excitement about Santa grows and the perfect end to any day in the mountains is a mulled cider at Aviemore’s Old Bridge Inn sat by the wood burner!’
