The mountaineers, who had been heading out to climb in pairs in the Coire an t'Sneachda and Loch Avon areas, were extremely fortunate not to have been killed, said avalanche expert Mark Diggins.

"They escaped dazed, battered and bruised in all three cases. The avalanches carried them just short of boulder fields of rocks, so they have been very lucky," he said.

"There could very easily have been fatalities."

Sportscotland's Snow and Avalanche Information Service, which received a funding boost from the Scottish Government a week ago, has highlighted the dangers of avalanches as climbers and walkers prepare to head to the Cairngorms for the Easter break, which starts on Friday.

Two of the avalanches occurred in Coire an t'Sneachda. One pair of climbers were heading to the Fiachail Couloir, and were just reaching the foot of the climb when they were hit by an avalanche.

They rode nearly 200 metres down on what Mr Diggins described as a "plaque" of snow.

On the same day, two more climbers were caught up in another avalanche in Castlegates Gully, near the Shelter Stone at the back of Cairn Gorm.

And two more mountaineers were hit by a third avalanche as they walked into Jacob's Ladder, also in Coire an t'Sneachdha, on Thursday.

Mr Diggins, who is the SAIS's chief observer for the Northern Cairngorms, said: "They, too, were carried 200 metres, and again stopped just short of the boulder field. The pack cracked above them, but it was fairly hard, and they rode the snow blocks down."

The latest incident was witnessed by instructors from sportscotland's Glenmore Lodge, who ironically were teaching students how to move safely about in avalanche terrain.

Giles Trussel, who works at the Lodge, said: "As they were approaching, one of them was just carrying her helmet in her hand like a handbag.

"Both were wearing helmets when they got onto the slope, but they had no axes out.

"The couple took more of a direct line to the route than we would recommend, and just 15 metres from a safe spot, they triggered an avalanche."

He continued: "One of them started tumbling, but the other was orientated upwards. We watched them all the way down in and out of the snow.

"They stopped ten metres from the boulders. If they had been slightly further right, they would have gone over some rocks.

"Both stood up after a few seconds and started to move around. They stood there for around five minutes, obviously shaken, and then turned round and headed back. It was a good decision, probably."

Mr Diggins said that often mountaineers were blinkered to the dangers of avalanches and too focused on achieving their actual climb.

"It has not entered their heads to think about avalanches; they are probably more naive than anything," said the Aviemore man.

But he warned those heading out into the Northern Corries – one of Europe's most easily accessible climbing areas with tough terrain – that they face real dangers.

"People tend to think that avalanches do not occur in Scotland, but they do."

This winter, in particular, the Cairngorms were "particularly volatile", said the expert, because of the prolonged cold weather and the high number of snowstorms in the range – unlike previous milder years.

"It seems that people are getting caught by surprise," he said.

Mr Diggins speaks from experience, having escaped relatively unscathed from an avalanche. He was wiped out near Loch Etchachan in the Cairngorms in 1996 when he was caught up in one of the worst storms ever to hit the UK. The wind speed reached an incredible 176mph, creating appalling white-out conditions.

He recalled: "For me, it was a fight to survive; to get onto the top of the snow and away from the moving surface."

There is no obligation to report avalanches to the SAIS.

Scotland's worst avalanche in recent years occurred at Aonach Mor on December 29, 1998, when four people were killed. The guided party of seven were all buried by what was a relatively small avalanche in G and T Gully. Three of those who survived had been buried for more than 14 hours before being rescued.

Mr Tim Walker, principal at Glenmore Lodge, said that the latest publicity was a timeous warning with the busy Easter period about to start.

He said: "We want people to enjoy themselves; after all, 80 to 90 per cent of the local economy is dependent on visitors, but we have a moral responsibility to ensure that they have access to good advice."

He agreed that the current prolonged winter conditions in the Cairngorms had not been seen for as long as ten years. "For the amateur climbers coming up here, they probably do not have much experience of these conditions.

"We want them to know that avalanches do occur, and to check all the information that is readily available to them."

Around 60,000 people venture into Scotland's hills every weekend.

The snow and avalanche information service currently costs over £130,000 per year to run. There has been a very significant decrease in avalanche incidents since the introduction of the service, said Mr Walker.

The service operates across the five most popular mountain areas in Scotland, for approximately three months of the year.

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