Should get colder tomorrow!

It was a great day on Ben Nevis yesterday with both guests and hosts on the BMC International meet enjoying good conditions on the likes of Albatross, Psychedelic Wall, Gargoyle Wall, Smiths Route, Green Gully, Comb Gully etc. Today however, was a very wet day with low cloud and heavy rain right up to summit level (see picture) . However with cold temperatures forecast for later in the week, the ice conditions are only likely to improve high on the Ben.

Great conditions up the Ben today. Loads of folk out enjoying the great conditions including blue sky! Picture today is of Green Gully.

Tomorrow it looks like it is going to go all wrong again. Heavy snow is forecast overnight followed by heavy rain during Tuesday. Should provide some ideal avalanche material. The wind is going to increase to around 70mph during the day aswell so it sounds like a good day to avoid going outside.

Not much change up there today. The snowpack is damp on the summits. The forecast that we have for tomorrow looks like there will be cooler air coming in which should refreeze all of the existing snowpack. No significant new snow is expectd so conditions should improve. It remains to be seen however what the weather actually does....

Fairly warm today, with the snowpack continuing to consolidate. Over 100 climbers/walkers up Aonach Mor today so it must still be winter!

The freezing level dropped to below summit level overnight. Today the snowpack was frozen solid and is stable. The colder temperatures will encourage further ice build up on the highest ice routes. Conditions on high up routes like Smiths Route, Indicator wall, Two Step Corner, Green Gully etc. are reported as good. Unfortunately thick mist when we were on the hill this morning prevented any good pictures from being taken.

Conditions on the Ben still seem quite good despite the warm temperatures. You can pretty much get into the Coirre without touching any snow but above the Lochan there is full cover. Many teams out there today heading up into the mist. Photos today are of whats left of the Curtain and Garadh Gully

West is Best.

It was another lovely day on Aonach Mor, and it was good to see plenty of people out enjoying the conditions. A climbing legend from Aviemore way was spotted on the summit, and heard saying that conditions here were better than in the Cairngorms, as they have been all season. Just goes to show that, this year at least, West is best. However the down side of these good conditions is that the crags can get very busy. Quite few injuries (none too serious) were sustained yesterday by people falling off. So remember kids, winter climbing is a cold, dangerous and utterly pointless activity.

It was a busy day on Aonach Mor as this picture of Easy Gully shows. The snow has refrozen, and alot of the easy and mid grade routes look to be in reasonable condition.

Wet Day

Today was a wet day. The freezing level was above summits and it rained. Avalanches activity was noted on Ben Nevis. Cooler temperatures are forecast for the weekend. This further improve the climbing conditions on the higher ice routes.

Avalanche Day.

Snow conditions were very unstable today with many natural and triggered avalanches occurring. The picture shows natural avalanche debris on the Back Track area of Aonach Mor. The situation was the same on many North East facing slopes. With mild conditions and rain forecast for tomorrow things are likely to get even more unstable.

There were plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine and good conditions. The picture shows a climber near the top of Left Twin. The fresh snow of the past few days has not bonded well to the old, hard snow ice. The greatest hazard tends to be on Northerly aspects where deposits of fresh snow overlies the hard snow.

The winds were still blowing quite strong from the South/South-East this morning, depositing fresh unstable windslab in sheltered locations. I would suspect there would be quite a bit of unstable snow forming in Observatory Gully at the moment, but I have not been there to verify this (nor am I planning to!)

Several teams heading up Aonach mor this morning. The crag should certainally have been blown clear of any fresh snow!

Photo is from 900m on Aonach Mor, between the gusts.

It was a stormy day today. Many teams were seen retreating from Ben Nevis. There is still some nice ice high on the mountain as this picture (taken a few days ago) of Andy on Psychedelic Wall shows. The weather is forecast is for snow tonight/tomorrow morning. If large amounts of snow falls this will produce a high avalanche risk because the new snow not bond well with the old and very hard snow ice. In this case some careful route planning will be needed to safely get to many of the routes high on Ben Nevis.

The weather was not quite as nice and sunny as expected today. However, there were still plenty of people out enjoying the wintery conditions. The picture shows the large number of climbers that were gearing up outside the Ski Patrol hut on Aonach Mor at about 11am.
There are presently some interesting crystals in the snowpack. Faceted crystals were observed in a thin layer above the old, hard neve. In some locations a layer of fresh snow (which includes graupel) lies on top of this. The avalanche hazard is presently Moderate (Category 2) as the deposits of fresh snow are generally small and isolated. However, unstable conditions are likely to occur if/when we get the next big snowfall.

Yet another lovely day in the mountains. No pictures today I am afraid. Plenty of people were out enjoying some good climbing and walking conditions on Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis. Similar conditions are expected tomorrow so take a sicky from work and come to Lochaber.

The Ben

Here is a picture of the Ben today. If you look closely there are plenty of folk climbing!

Its still good over here in the west. Virtually no new snow last night. Good climbing being had by all.

Despite the cloud sitting on the summits, it's still winter out there. Many teams out on Aonach Mor today enjoying good climbing conditions. Very light dusting of fresh snow above 950m but all the old snow remains frozen.

Winter is still here

Excellent ice up the Ben just now. Most of the big ice routes up high are in good condition. No avalanche hazard to worry about, blue skies and sunshine....Get up there!

The freeze is back!

Cold temperatures have frozen all of that old wet snow, so conditions should be improving again. No reports of actual climbing conditions as yet but it looks good. All the snow gullies should give good sport and there may even be some ice left high up on the Ben. Should get some reports by tomorrow.

Pictures are: Ben Nevis, Aonach Mor and Easy Gully, Aonach Mor.

The thaw goes on.

It was another very mild day. Most easy gully lines are complete, but the buttresses are black. The forecast for tomorrow is colder. This is likley to produce good conditions on some of the higher routes on Ben Nevis (seen in the picture) and Aonach Mor, but little else will be in conditions.