Looking up into Coire na Ciste today.

Old avalanche debris below Number 5 gully. This avalanche occurred during the mild wet spell last week.

Fresh cornices at the top of Number 5 gully. You might just about be able to make out an old crown wall on the shady snow slope in the middle distance. This is probably the same avalanche for which the debris is shown in the previous picture.

It was a lovely calm and sunny day on Ben Nevis today. Lots of climbers out with teams on The Orion Face, Hadrians Wall, Point Five Gully and most of the classic ridges. Saw old debris (from last weeks thaw) below Number 2 and Number 5 gullies, but no sign of any more recent debris. This contrast a bit with Aonach Mor where there were a number of avalanches yesterday (Sunday 27th).

After the Thaw

A view up towards the Orion face in between rain showers. Very warm!

On the Ben again.

Number Three Gully Buttress.

Easy shears were observed at the depth of 43cm at the snowpit location in Coire na Ciste today. This block, which measured about a metre by a metre, sheared easily when I stepped on it. The weather turned out to be better than expected, and there were plenty of teams out climbing.

Windy again on the Ben

Ben Nevis hiding in the cloud.

Carn Dearg Buttress

Trident Buttress during a brief gap in the cloud.

It was another windy day on Ben Nevis. The cloud cleared a bit while I was walking in, allowing a brief view of some of the crags. There looked to be a bit of ice about, with routes like Mega Route X and The Shroud starting to form. There was also a fair bit of fresh windslab about, especially at higher levels. Looks like we are in store for a wild weekend.

A lovely day on Aonach Mor.

A wild day on the Ben

It was windy with loads of spindrift blowing about on the Ben today. Walking up to the CIC hut I met a large number of teams who quite sensibly turned around because of the weather and avalanche hazard.

A slightly sinister looking Ben Nevis this morning.

Looking up to the CIC hut, the Douglas boulder peeking through the cloud and blowing snow behind.

Poor viz.

The original plan today had been to head over to the col between Aonach Mor and Aonach Beag to see if there had been any avalanches on the latters North side. However, the visibility was poor and a did not think I would see anything from the col, so I decided to stop near the actual summit of Aonach Mor and investigate the snow in one of the Gullies at the top of the West face.

On the way back it did clear slightly, which allowed me to take this shot of the South Side of Coire an Lochan. Although it is hard to make out there is a crown wall running diagonally up from lowest rocks to the the base of the route Stirling Bridge (the steepest buttress in the picture). This avalanche probabley released sometime yesterday (Sunday).

Avalanche Debris

Lots of evidence of avalanche activity during yesterdays thaw. Below is a big slide out of Easy Gully on Aonach Mor. If anyone spots any other debris, please can you fill out the form on the website. There is a cool new map you can just click, so you dont even need to work out a Grid Reference!

The ice before the thaw

Plenty of action up the Ben today. Various teams on Tower Ridge, Zero and Observatory Buttress amongst others

Looking up Observatory Gully

The Ben between thaws

Here is what the Ben looked like today. Plenty of teams in action, mainly on the easier snow routes

NW side of Tower Ridge