Scotland has been hailed as the best place in Europe to enjoy skiing at present, with December’s early snowfall forming the basis for a fantastic season.
The Ski Club of Great Britain said Scottish centres were the “hot spots” for snowfall, with flurries in recent days extending the season once again.
CairnGorm has been listed as a top destination, but snow sports fans have also been enjoying top skiing at Glenshee.
Snowfall late last year gave a massive boost to the industry and Glenshee was among those to reap the rewards, enabling the centre to open a month earlier than in 2009.
Excellent snow has remained since then, with regular snowfall topping up runs each time it has looked like the season might finally be on the wane.
Though the season may begin to draw to a close in the coming weeks, there are hopes that snow will remain in sufficient quantity to allow for one last surge of visitors during the Easter holidays.
A ski club spokesman said, “It is possible to ski at all five Scottish ski areas with fantastic snow underfoot.”
Hundreds of skiers took to the slopes of Glenshee in near-perfect conditions every day throughout December. Through the best of the season, however, daily visitor numbers rose into the thousands.
A spokesman at Glenshee said, “With the recent snowfall there is a full covering of fresh snow over the entire ski area and there is great skiing and boarding, with full width packed snow on every run.
“Wednesday’s sunshine softened up the south facing slopes but the rest are still offering good off-piste and plenty of it.”
Scotland’s economy has already welcomed its biggest boost from winter sports in many years. Glencoe opened before Christmas for the first time in 10 years, while Glenshee’s season started a full month ahead of 2009 — itself a successful season.
More than 1000 visited the Glenshee centre on New Year’s Day and 1500 the following day, while figures over the next few days reached 3000.
Those figures were only a little ahead of 2009 but bosses said it was the extra month in operation that would make the real difference in the long run.