HUNDREDS of motorists made their way to the mountains yesterday as recent falls created perfect conditions for the pistes.

Ski enthusiasts heading for Glenshee found hundreds of others had the same idea.

The resort has good skiing and snowboarding and snow had "blanketed the entire ski area with too much in places," according to staff.

Elsewhere Massive snowfall had almost buried buildings at ski centres in Glen Coe and Nevis Range, but operators were rubbing their hands, with good numbers on the slopes.

About 800 visitors flocked to the Nevis Range yesterday, even though it took them around four hours to dig out the lifts.

Marian Austin, the resort's managing director, said: "Saturday it's going to be windy, but it's coming in from the north-west and that's usually good for us. "

Glen Coe had more than 750 visitors yesterday and were expecting it to be better over the weekend.

A spokeswoman said: "We've had so much snow, we're having to dig out the lifts every day."

Staff said the heavy snow and strong winds may have undone some of their work digging out the lifts, but they would hopefully be ready for today.

In the Cairngorm ski staff said they had "fantastic snow conditions" yesterday, but were expecting higher winds and heavy snowfall today.

Skiers, hill walkers and mountaineers were also advised to take extra precautions, with travel and avalanche warnings in place for certain areas.

Minister for Sport and Commonwealth Games, Shona Robison, said: "It doesn't matter if it's your first or one thousandth trip to a mountain you must prepare properly and check the weather and avalanche conditions as close as possible to departure."

A spokesman from the Met Office said that the weekend would improve with scattered showers on Saturday, and a drier day on Sunday.