Scotland skiing: Bumper year for Scotland’s ski resorts amid Winter Olympics buzz

Cairngorm Mountain resort, near Aviemore, said the winter had brought the best snow since the Covid pandemic in March 2020 with over 20,000 people flocking to the slopes since it opened in November.

Meanwhile, Glenshee clocked its busiest day of the season with 2,500 visitors and Glencoe Mountain centre said it had more than 1,000 skiers and around 600 sledgers on Tuesday alone.

Angus Trinder, from Cairngorm ski centre, said: "From Saturday through to Tuesday, it was incredibly busy - it was some of the best days we have had this winter.

"We had the most terrain open that we have done in years, which helps massively.

"Tuesday in particular was one of those bluebird sunshine days with incredible snow conditions.”

He said teams were out on the hill “working non-stop” to keep operations running smoothly and maximise conditions for visitors.

"It has been the best snow I can remember since that unfortunate Covid winter when we had an incredible amount of snow,” he continued.

“It was absolutely awesome, but no one could get here.

"This winter, the temperature fluctuations in January and February have been lower, so that has really helped."

The Lecht in Aberdeenshire and the Nevis Range near Fort William have also opened this year. The latter previously spoke out about the effects of climate change on the snowsport season after it had to delay its winter opening in 2024.

Mr Trinder said he thought the Winter Olympics in Italy also had an impact on visitor numbers.

Scottish skier Kirsty Muir, from Aberdeen, was one of Britain’s biggest medal hopes at the games this year.

The 21-year-old came agonisingly close to stepping on to the podium in both the women’s slopestyle the big air final, finishing fourth in both events.

Ms Muir learned to ski on the Scottish mountains, including the Cairngorm, the Lecht and Glenshee, and on the dry slope in Aberdeen.

On the impact of the competition, Mr Trinder said: "From a personal perspective , the fact that the games are in the same time zone has helped.

“People are watching it at night and on their days off.

"People like Kirsty Muir and Chris McCormick used to come up here when they were younger.

“For people to see them progressing in the way they have is really inspiring, particularly for young people."

Despite the favourable weather, this year's snowsport season hasn’t been without disruption - with heavy snow and strong winds increasing the risk of avalanche on some of Scotland’s highest mountains.

The Scottish Avalanche Information Service has already recorded 156 avalanches this season so far, compared to 42 the previous season, which was the lowest number in the service’s almost 40 year history.

Eighty-eight have been recorded in the last month alone.