No podium finish or looking good for the camera on the final lap, Creag Meagaidh metaphorically fell on its face into a puddle in front of the grandstand on the last day of the winter season.   (Above) The Post Face of Coire Ardair is there somewhere in the mist and rain.   (Above) Slightly clearer conditions over at Beinn a Chaorainn with a line of cornices still lingering around the top of its steep E-facing coire. It’s been a pretty awful season snow-wise. And snow aside, not particularly cold either. Hope springs eternal though, so fingers crossed for a properly snowy and cold 20 ..read more

In our bid to have an end of season look at the snow cover across the whole of our patch – and having heard of SAIS N.Cairngorm’s snowfall some days ago – we thought we might find a bit more of the white stuff further east at Drumochter, an outlier but putative part of the SAIS Creag Meagaidh area. Sadly, as the saying goes, the grass wasn’t any greener over there, though the grass was literally…err…greener.   (Above) What’s visible east of the A9. Not good. There are just a few more of these patches on the hills either side of the A9 corridor as it passes over Drumochter.   (Above ..read more

(Above) The Big Picture. Patchy snow cover now limited to places above 800m plus a few favoured gullies and scarp slopes at slightly lower altitudes. N and E aspects are where most of the bigger patches can be found.   (Above) Lochan a Choire and the Post Face of Coire Ardair et al. Was ridiculously warm today after heavy overnight rainfall. Windy too, as the white caps on the lochan attest.   (Above) Easy Gully and the Post Face of Coire Ardair. Not surprising there were several well-established waterfalls after the overnight deluge + meltwater. With plenty of water to lubricate the ..read more

Overnight the snowpack firmed up to leave a mostly supportive crust.  By midday the freezing level had rose to around summit level and the first drops of rain were arriving from the west. Thaw conditions are expected for the next couple of days with a possible return to colder conditions by the weekend although details are uncertain. (Above) Looking into Coire Chriochairein from Aberarder this morning.   (Above) Stumpy cornices on the East side of Beinn a Chaorainn. I suspect there are still some heavy lumps of cornice waiting to fall off in the current thaw, particularly this eve ..read more

(Above) The view west from Creag Pitridh to the NE aspects of Beinn a Chalachair. Very mellow Spring vibe in our neck of the woods today. Yes, a tad breezy to start with but bright and some warmth in the sun when it was out.   (Above) The NW toward the plateau of the main Creag Meagaidh massif. Creag Meagaidh summit is on the left of centre skyline. Patchy snow cover, n’est-ce pas? Only a trace of overnight snow but definitely cooler above 1000m earlier in the morning. Winter is about to burst spring’s bubble. Quite a wintry forecast for the Highlands with a fair amount of snowfall expect ..read more

(Above) The crags at the upper end of Coire Ardair. Seemed to be spared the worst of the weather, or more accurately the wind, today. Looks like Storm Kathleen was doing its worst further west of Creag Meagaidh but maybe also over the Cairngorms as well. Some overnight showers, mainly of rain, with only a trace of snow up high and just a brief graupel shower during the morning. For any wild swimmers out there, the water temperature in Lochan a Choire was a bracing 3.2 degrees C in the shallows at midday.   (Above) The Inner Coire of Coire Ardair The Window. The snow in shot is all coarse ..read more

Today was all about trying to see how much snow had come in on the Easterly winds last night, and deposited onto Westerly aspects. The answer was some, but not as much perhaps as was expected. Overnight tonight, and during tomorrow, storm Kathleen brings heavy rain and Storm force winds with freezing levels well above the summits. This will cause instabilities in the existing snowpack, with the potential for full depth avalanches and slides on extremely steep terrain, and crag ledges. Rock and ice fall will also be a risk. Probably not a good day to be too high on the mountains tomorrow for se ..read more

Walking in today, the hills looked fresh and white after a “wee” dusting of fresh snow overnight. This was all fairly cosmetic, and did not change anything in relation to the current snowpack stability… but it looked nice!  with the older snowpack looking fresh and bright. Overnight tonight and into tomorrow we are expecting a fair amount of fresh snow on strong Easterly winds. This will deposit unstable windslab on wind sheltered South-West to North-West aspects, above 900 metres. Cross-loading of this windslab onto the older snowpack on Northerly aspects is also expected. Please see the ..read more

Executive summary: little found.   (Above) The Drumochter area is notionally part of the SAIS Creag Meagaidh area so gets the occasional visit, like today. The circle denotes the site of today’s formal snow observations.   (Above) Misty Coire Dhomhain with the A9 in the far distance. Was dry and misty here for most of the morning. As you can see there’s a dearth of snow cover down low hereabouts.   (Above) Came across this structure next to the main track up the glen. Not of neolithic origin! Looks like a shotgun fire base built by the local estate. The built-in shelf at elbow h ..read more

(Above) Looking down from An Cearcallach into Glen Spean and the reservoir end of Loch Laggan. Persistent light precip throughout the morning coming in the form of rain down low and snow up high. An uncomfortable and somewhat demoralising Scottish combo given that you get wet followed by cold on the outward leg and wet again when homeward bound. A thin cover of fresh snow in most places above circa 900m with some drifting but mainly onto bare ground.   (Above) Looking north on An Cearcallach en route to the Moy Coire. Visibility was poor all day above 800m though the skies did lighten a b ..read more