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Mar Lodge Estate occupies nearly 7% of the Cairngorms National Park, covering in total 29,380 hectares of some of the most remote and scenic wild land in Scotland, including four of the five highest mountains in the UK.

The Scottish Highlands are one of the few parts of the United Kingdom to have a number of ski resorts. Aviemore is a centre for the sport in the Cairngorms. There are also other resorts such as Aonach Mòr, and slopes at Glencoe Ski area and Glenshee Ski Centre. The Midlothian Snowsports Centre near Edinburgh, known locally as "Hillend", is the largest dry ski slope in Europe.

More dry slopes can be found in Bearsden and a new indorr ski complex is up and running at Excape at teh Braehad Shopping Centre.

Scotland is the most mountainous country in the United Kingdom. The area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault is known as the Highlands, and contains the country's main mountain ranges. Scotlands mountain ranges, in a rough north to south direction are: The Highlands & Islands, The Hills of the Central Lowlands, the Southern Uplands. The zone includes Britain's highest peaks, especially Ben Nevis at over 4000 feet, with several similar peaks in the Cairngorms.

Some of the most spectacular mountains occur in the northwest highlands, especially on Skye, the largest island off the coast. On the mainland nearby lie some great ranges based on the Torridonian sandstone, a Precambrian rock which overlies yet older rocks such as the Lewisian gneiss. Some of the highest peaks, such as Beinn Eighe are crowned by white quartzite, which gives those peaks a distinctive appearance. The trend continues to the north with larger caps of the white rock at Foinaven and Arkle. Some of the quartzite contains fossilized worm burrows. It is known as pipe rock and is circa 500 million years old.