Scots ski resorts in bumper year

Scotland's five mountain ski areas have had their best season since 2001 with spending by winter sports enthusiasts generating £25m, Ski-Scotland has said.

Unprecedented falls of snow have been reported at CairnGorm, Glencoe, Glenshee, Nevis Range and the Lecht. National body Ski-Scotland said more snow has been forecast meaning the season could last through to May. It said local businesses, such as bed and breakfasts, have also benefitted from the numbers of people skiing.

Nevis Range managing director Marian Austin said the amount snow that has fallen has allowed it to extend its skiing area. She said: "Unlike the ski areas in the east, we do not normally ski to our car park. "But this amazing snow cover - even at low level - has allowed us to offer skiing from 1,190m (3,900ft) down to 100m (330ft), which is about 4.5km, or close to three miles."

Pieter du Pon, of the Lecht Ski Company, added: "The snow this year has been fantastic with constant cold and great skiing conditions." Snow has just piled up week after week since before Christmas, with another metre falling in 36 hours last week."

Glencoe ski site 'is world's snowiest'

The ski centre at Glencoe Mountain had the most new snow of any winter sports resort in the world on Wednesday, its operators have claimed.

Spokesman Andy Meldrum said data collected by the British Ski Club revealed the area experienced a fall of 80cm over 24 hours.

Heavy snowfalls were also experienced at other Scottish ski resorts.

Snow fell to a depth of 70cm at CairnGorm, 60cm at both The Lecht and Nevis Range, and 50cm at Glenshee. Mr Meldrum said: "We have had a colossal amount of snow. At car park level we've probably got a metre of snow. "The amount of snow on the mountain is absolutely epic." Mr Meldrum added: "We must have a metre and a half of snow up there."

Glencoe came out ahead of the Sugarbush and Mount Snow resorts in the USA which had 76cm of new snow on Wednesday.

No skiing at Scottish resort -- too much snow

Skiers found the slopes at a Scottish resort closed on Friday, not because the snow was sparse, but rather there was too much of it, the resort's managers said.

Cairngorm Mountain in northeast Scotland more often deals with a lack of snow but this year it is grappling with a different problem -- 185 centimetres (73 inches) of snow since Christmas in the worst bout of winter weather since the 1970s.

Resort staff toiled all day Thursday to clear snow, but they arrived back Friday to find their hard work was in vain after strong winds blew snow across access roads, creating 15 foot (4.6 metre) high drifts.

"We have come in this morning and it feels like groundhog day -- all our work yesterday has been filled in again," said Colin Matthew, the head of ski patrol.

"The mountain and all facilities, access roads and car parks will be closed today to allow digging out after major drifting during the storm," he said.

The resort's snow ploughs cannot even get through the drifting and it has had to hire special heavy diggers, said resort spokesman Colin Kirkwood, adding it could be Monday before the resort reopens.

But despite the temporary closure, Kirkwood said this year's harsh conditions had provided a welcome boost for business at Cairngorm, which faced controversy in recent years after a funicular railway ran well over budget.

"We're about 300 percent up on the point we were at at the same point last year," he said.

Cairngorm, Britain's sixth highest mountain, is one of the main resorts in Britain's small ski industry north of the Scottish border, with 10 lifts and 30 kilometres (19 miles) of ski runs.

Most of Britain has seen substantial snowfalls over the last month, in the country's severest winter for decades, although warmer temperatures in the last few days have melted much of the snow and ice further south.

Best skiing in 14 years at resort

A Highlands winter sports centre said it has had its best Christmas holiday season in 14 years.

CairnGorm Mountain said over a four-day period following Christmas Day it has had more than 8,000 skiers and snowboarders using its runs. The resort in the Cairngorms near Aviemore said blizzard conditions forecast for Thursday were expected to give way to bright sunshine on Friday.

Further snowfalls were expected over the weekend.

In 2007, Scottish ski resorts said they were suffering one of their worst seasons in years. A lack of snow and the presence of high winds were blamed for keeping skiers and snowboarders off the slopes. Bosses of the Glencoe Mountain Resort, meanwhile, have been working with government agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in drawing up plans for the future.

Scotland's oldest ski centre was taken over by a consortium of winter sports enthusiasts earlier this year. Headed by businessman Andy Meldrum, the group plan to develop the site as an all-year venue through the creation of mountain bike trails.

An adventure playground and a revamp of the cafe have also been proposed.