In reply to ian stewart:
Was out this afternoon on the piste then over Cairngorm to Cairn Lochan and down Lurchers. The snow cover in Lurchers is excellent, I skied down to about 600m and then picked up a snow ribbon back to the Sneachda river, then its about 10 minutes walk back to the car park. The plateau is plastered with snow still but a little icy in places.