Spring has arrived! The snow generally remains frozen and should give some good climbing still in the gullies. Many of the buttresses are pretty bare and the plateau is grassy!

Crags on Aonach Mor today

What a difference a day makes

What a difference a day makes. In complete contrast to yesterday, it was mild, cloudy and very wet on Ben Nevis today. The lovely snow and ice which covered the hills is rapidly turning to water and heading towards the sea. This means that all the rivers and streams are raging torrents. This is okay if you are a kayaking freak, but not so useful for winter climbing or skiing. We failed to get across the Allt a' Mhuilinn to get to the CIC hut. See pictures of Allt a' Mhuilinn near the dam and walking up towards the CIC.

Blair

Coire Dubh

Today the Nevis range ski patrol accomapined us to have a look at the back coires of Aonach Mor, to see if it was possible to open them for skiing. As seen in the picture of Coire Dubh, there was plenty of avalanche activity there, some very fragile cornices and lots more fresh unstable snow blowing in. The coires remained closed.
Blair

More snow and wind

It would be fair to say that the conditions today were far from ideal for spotting avalanches, although I am pretty sure they were out there.

Strong S-SW winds and persistant snow above 600m.

The picture says it all!

Pretty wet and horrible up the Ben today. Large avalanches out of most of the main gullies. Looks like it is still freezing above 1000m so there will still be lots of unstable snow about there. There was no way I was going up there for a closer look after having watched No5 gully avalanche!

Extent of avalanche debris below Observatory Gully


Looking into the inner corrie

Snow down to the glen

Snow fell down to low levels today and Ben Nevis is looking suitably wintry. During short breaks in the mist these pictures were taken.

Wild conditions

Conditions were quite wild for our observations today. We found a fair bit of graupel within the snowpack. Graupel (or soft hail as it is sometimes called) is the name for firm, rounded pellets of snow/ice. These pellets are formed through the riming of individual snowflakes in humid, sub-zero conditions. Graupel can sometimes collect in certain areas. Windslab deposited on top of these areas can be very unstable as the graupel can act like ball bearings.

Blair

Fresh Snow

There was a fair bit of snow blowing about the hill today. A lot of this is being deposited on Easterly aspects, as seen in this picture looking North along the Nid/Lemmings Ridge on Aonach Mor at an altitude of about 1050 metres. Further down the ridge a couple of soft slab avalanches were released by hitting the cornice which collapsed and released the slope below. These avalanche were quite small, because the accumulation of fresh snow are not yet extensive.
Blair

A dusting of Fresh.

A light dusting of fresh snow fell in very light winds today. The snowflake did not get broken up or blown away before being observed. This meant that (if you are a snow geek like me) it was a good day for snowflake spotting. Today most were needles (see picture of the snow on my rucsac strap). The shape of a snow flake depends on the temperature and the humidity at which it forms. Irregular needles like these form at temperature of between about -4°C and -6°C. In comparison dendrites (classic Christmas card snow flakes) form at about -15°C.
Blair

Wet, mild and cloudy.

Wet, mild and cloudy (as picture shows), not much more worth saying about today. Forecast better for tomorrow.
Blair

Brief return of semi-winter

After a very wet and mild day yesterday, winter made a slight reapperance today. There was a bit of fresh snow above about 900m. However, below an icy crust the snowpack is very wet. Some winter skills groups were seen on Ben Nevis. A couple of climbers were also seen heading up Observatory Gully looking for some winter conditions. Back to very wet and mild conditions tomorrow.
Blair

What's left?

Bit windy and wet on the hill this morning so didn't get that high.

During a slight clearing this afternoon, managed to get a photo of Aonach Mor from the carpark just to give you an idea of what is happening.

Plus 3 degrees on the summits today with heavy rain. More of the same expected tomorrow after a brief cold spell overnight tonight

Here today, Gone tomorrow.

After some very warm temperatures yesterdya, winter made a reappearance today. It was snowing in the Nevis Range carpark this morning. When we got up the hill strong winds and heavy snow showers made detailed observation of the snowpack rather tricky. However, this is one of the challenges of working in Scotland. Unfortunately mild conditions and rain are expected to return this weekend.
Blair

Snowy at top

The freezing level being about 1000m today. There has been a fair bit of fresh snow blown on on high Easterl aspects. Near top of Left Twin on Aonach Mor we found nearly a meter of fresh snow. More snow was being rapidly deposited into our pit, making observing conditions quite tricky (espically when you wear glasses).
Blair

Well, it was a bit on the damp side up the Ben today. Freezing level rising quickly during this morning and evidence of fresh avalanche debris below No2 and No5 gullies. Looks like it should get better on Saturday.
Heres a picture looking up towards Carn Dearg buttress.
10 points for effort for the pair camping at the CIC hut!

Cascade de CIC

During a break in the snow, the CIC hut cascade was looking almost continental today. Although climbable, there was a lot of water running down it. However with a freezing level of 2500m and rain forecast for tomorrow, I suspect it is going to get a lot wetter. In fact Friday might be a good day to avoid the mountains, with rock fall, ice fall, avalanches and cornice collapse all being likely.
Blair

Isolated Instabilities

Today there was a little fresh snow. On a Westerly aspect we found the windslab to be poorly bonded to the existing snow pack, with big cracks running out from our boots (see picture). However on other locations with the same aspect there was no new snow. On vast majority of the hill the snow is stable and there is little avalanche risk. However, the avalanche report is written with respect to the area of greatest hazard, and why despite most of the hill being safe that I issued a Cat 3 today.

Flucuating Temperatures

The last two days have seen a nice flux in temperatures, firming up the snow and encouraging ice formation. There was a period of avalanche activity during the mild wet conditions experienced on Sunday. Yesterday we were on Ben Nevis. The photo shows Blair investigating the extensive debris beneath No. 5 Gully. Debirs was also observed beneath No. 2 Gully and in Coire an Lochain of Aonach Mor .
The other photo shows conditions this morning on Aonach Mor, with a team traversing the snow slope beneath the crags. Avalanche debris from Sunday can be seen in the background. Not as much snow fell overnight and through Tuesday as was expected. However, small drifts of fresh snow show poor bonding to the underlying neve with pressure from boots and skis making the new layer crack and slide in places.

Yesterday was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and great views over to Skye and Rum from the summit of Aonach Mor. There was some good skiing down the back corries.

However, today was not such a fun day at the office! Low cloud, rain, sleet and finally some snow meant that conditions were pretty miserable! Never mind, the weather is set to improve (Blair assures me!) Fingers crossed for some more of the white stuff!

Jenny

Up the Ben

View up No5 Gully. Loads of fairly deep snow but you will notice the lack of ice on the Curtain

CIC Hut in the snow

Proper winter in Lochaber.

Light and fluffy snow fell today. On Ben Nevis the crags are well rimed up but there is still not a great deal of ice around. On Aonach Mor the skiing looked great today.

Todays picture is the cornice at the top of Left Twin, Aonach Mor. Thereis plenty of fresh snow at the top of the crag and also plenty of evidence of recent avalanche activity

Winter is here

Winter has arrived on the hills of Lochaber. The freezing level was about 1000m today. Heavy snow showers and moderate South Westerly winds meant that there was plenty of snow being transported over the hill and deposited in sheltered locations. The pattern of snow transport can be seen in this picture of snow blowing over a log in the Nevis range ski area.

New snow at last!

Finally the snow has reached the west coast. Accumulations are not huge but fresh windslab is forming in sheltered locations.
On Aonach Mor, there were several teams out today, reporting good climbing conditions. The Strong SE wind is helping to keep the fresh snow off the crags and out of Easy Gully.
That will all change tomorrow as the wind will go back to the West and start building unstable snow on Easterly aspects.

If anybody knows the where abouts of our big map case from the North Face carpark, please return it!

Snow showers today on Ben Nevis

It was a nice wintry day on Ben Nevis today with snow showers, gusty variable wind and spindrift.

Sheep up mountains

The freezing level was creeping back down the hill during Wednesday. Above about 900m the snow is developing an icy crust. However these sheep were seen happily eating grass (as sheep do) at about 750m. Sheep observed high up mountains generally indicates poor winter climbing conditions.

Back to Rain

Rain at all levels has soaked the snowpack. Taking todays observations was a rather damp affair.

Winter today!

It felt a bit more like the real thing today, although looking at the forecast it is unlikely to last!

Any ideas who made this track that we spotted?



Views of the crags on Aonach Mor

A bit more Wintery

Moderate overnight snow has deposited up to 50cm of fresh snow on high easterly aspects. This combined with some hoar frost and low teperatures made it feel quite wintery on the tops. A chilly looking John enjoys his sandwiches outside the ski patrol hut on Aonach Mor.

Not much new snow

This is a photo taken up the main ski lift on Aonach Mor at around 950m. It gives you an idea of the amount (how little!) fresh snow we got last night. The old underlying snowpack was just starting to freeze at this level.

Rain again

View looking up towards the Ben this morning. The snow line is going up fast!

Xmas Eve

The disgusting weather of last night has been replaced by slightly cooler conditions today with some light fresh snow accumulations. There are no significant new snow accumulations yet. Looks like a nice day in prospect for tomorrow for a pre diner stroll!

The cold settled conditions continue.

The cold and frosty conditions continue in Lochaber. Some great examples of surface hoar crystals were observed today (see picture). These very delicate crystals often form on the surface of the snowpack in cold and settled conditions. They are common in alpine areas, and when buried by subsequent snowfalls act as very weak layers. However as these crystals were observed around the Nevis Range car park, but not on the hill, they are unlikely to produce a significant avalanche hazard. One of the greatest hazards at the moment is a slip on some of the large areas of water ice which have formed on some hillsides.

Cold Nights

After a cold night, Monday was another sunny day on Ben Nevis. There is not much snow about, but what there is is very hard and icy. Water courses are starting to freeze in the frosty nights.

Limited snow cover on Ben Nevis

Unfortunately, it was a long way up Coire na Ciste before finding enough snow to dig a decent snowpit.

Snow is mainly confined to ledges and some of the easy gullies. No 2 and No 3 Gullies have snow runs below them as can be seen from these photos. Some ice streaks are present.

First day of the season

Today was the first day of avalanche observations in Lochaber. On the East face of Aonach Mor there is a reasonable amount of snow, but the buttresses are all black after some mild temperatures during the past few days. At higher altitudes the surface of the snowpack has frozen due to a slight overnight frost.

Reports coming soon!

The first report of the season will be out on Friday 14th December