With the stormy conditions of mid-week due to ease up on Friday morning to give us a weekend with light winds and great snow cover in the East and fresh snow forecast for the early part of Friday, this would be a good weekend to make a weekend of it.

Aviemore is filling up, so if you have a car and wish to have the flexibility to consider taking in another area, we’ve had a sniff around for some cracking offers in other villages in Strathspey for the weekend.

Head South in the Strath for the option of taking in Nevis Range one day. Newtonmore is the ideal base for splitting a weekend between CairnGorm and Nevis Range, or for simply getting a bit more for your £s for a weekend at CairnGorm.

• Bavil Sport Hotel, Newtonmore. Singles from £29.  Twins and Doubles from £39 inc breakfast.
• Highlander Hotel, Newtonmore. Singles from £30. Twins and Doubles from £44 inc breakfast.

Head North in Strathspey to be situated ideally for picking either CairnGorm Mountain or the Lecht.

• Ben Mhor Hotel, Grantown. Singles from £40. Doubles from £50. Family Room (2+2) from £65.
• Ravenscourt House, Grantown. A bit of 4* luxury from just £49.50 for a twin.

Glenshee

For Glenshee, the village of Kirkmichael is often overlooked as a location, but the Kirkmichael Hotel is offering single rooms from £30 for Saturday night and a Family Room (2A +2C) from £70.

Out West

In the West the Ballachulish Hotel lies plumb in the middle between Nevis Range and Glencoe and is offering twin and double rooms from £69. Also in Ballachulish is Fern Villa,  a small family run 3* Guest House offering rooms from £42.