Another stormy day.

It was another wild and windy day in Lochaber. I went up the Ben. The freezing level was around 900 meters, so the band of precipitation which crosse the area was falling as snow at higher levels.  

 Looking over to Carn Dearg buttress from the CIC hut. There is actually a team at the base of the Curtain, I am not sure if they went up to climb it or just for a look, but shortly later we saw them heading back down the hill.

 Looking up to trident buttress.

Tower ridge up on the left from near the base of the Douglas Boulder.

After the storm

After yesterdays wild weather, today felt relatively settled. However, it was still too windy for the Nevis range gondola to run so I walked up from the bottom. There has been a fair bit of snow over the past 24 hours or so.However, with the strong winds large areas of the hill have been scoured. However, in sheltered locations the deposits of fresh snow tend to be quite deep. 

Fresh drifts at the bottom of the Goose T bar.

 In locations which have been sheltered from the strong winds such as the flat area pictured above or the Goose gully (pictured below) there tends to be quite significant deposits of fresh snow. The strong winds have densely packed this snow in, meaning that hopefully not too much will be lost in the that which is forecast over the weekend.

Wild day on the Ben.

It was a wild and windy day on the Ben. Although not heavy, snow fell continuously above about 700 meters through the day. The wind was from the South-East, and as usually the case when it is from that direction was very gusty.  There was lots of snow blowing about, and although many areas were scoured, there were some deep drifts of fresh about.

Heading up into Coire na Ciste. Unfortunately the camera stopped working shortly after this, so no pictures from within the Coire. It was pretty wild up there though with lots of snow blowing around.

Winter up the Ben

Looking towards Carn Dearg and Trident areas

Observatory Ridge

Cornices and scarp slopes.

Visibility was only very slightly better than yesterday. However, today I had the rope with me, which allowed me a closer look at some of the scarp slopes and cornices in Coire an Lochan. 

The results of a tap test at the pit site. Although some clean shears were observed, a bit more effort was required to cause failure than yesterday. The snowpack has somewhat consolidated in fluctuating temperatures.

There are some pretty substantial cornices about like this one near the top of Left Twin. Fortunately this one can be easily out flanked on the left.

Start of a new season.

Not great visibility on the tops, but I could see that there were some substantial cornices about.

 Coire Dubh. 

Not great visibility on the hill today, but better than the past few days. I had a good look around on Aonach Mor to get a feeling for where the snow is. There is pretty good cover on the summit plateau, and on the upper half of the ski area. The back coires are slowly filling in, but not enough there yet for good skiing. 

End of the season?

With milder temperatures forecast next week it is looking likely this may be the end of the avalanche forecasting season, and what an up and down season it has been. As seen in the pictures there is still plenty of snow at higher levels, although it all felt pretty sticky and stable today. 

There is quite a distinctive snow line at the moment around 950 metres

 Good cover remains on the summit runs.

Since last weekend there has been a fair bit of snow blown into the top of Coire an Lochan. Note the fresh cornices, some of which are likely to collapse when they begin to thaw properly.

Still looking wintery over in Ben Nevis. 

Winter clings on.....

 A better day for the competitors for the British Downhill championships at Nevis range today. Might not be so good tomorrow.

Plenty of snow at higher levels.

 Some fresh cornices as well.

 The view East over the Grey Coires towards the Cairngorms in the distance.

 A ski tourer enjoying good cover at 1200 metres with Ben Nevis in the background.

Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis as the first of the days snow showers starts brewing. 

It was a lovely morning, but with some showers during the afternoon. There is not much snow left below about 800m, but above about 1050m there is good cover. 

The start of the British Downhill Champs today at 650m. Probably a lot snowier than most folk would have expected! 

Still winter on the tops.

Although feeling pretty summery down in the glens, with temperatures generally below freezing, and reasonable snow cover it still feels quite wintery on the tops. 

 Looking over to Carn Mor Dearg and Ban Nevis.

The South side of Coire an Lochan holding plenty of snow. 

There was some pleasant sunshine first thing, as seen here on the Goose ski run.

Winter in May

Snowpack has receded up the hill since last weekend. Cold wind today with a very light but insignificant amount of new snow. Looks like the forecast for the rest of the weekend is good

A bright sunny day.

View East from Aonach Mor.

Across Aonach Mor East slopes to Aonach Beag.

View West from Aonach Mor.

Sunshine and showers

Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis

Aonach Mor: Coire an Lochan South side

View south from Climbers' Col on Aonach Mor.

Very poor visibility on Aonach Mor.

Aonach an Nid; north end of Aonach Mor.

Aonach an Nid NW slopes during a brighter interlude early afternoon.

Another day with sunshine and light snow showers.

View West from Aonach Mor.

A day for ski-touring on Aonach Mor.

Coire an Lochan crags across to the Climbers' Col.

Carn Mor Dearg East slopes and Ben Nevis behind.

Sunshine and snow showers.

Coire an Lochan and its lochan from the Aonach Mor plateau.

Aonach Mor summit plateau with one of several walkers out enjoying the day.

Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis from Aonach Mor.

Poor visibility on Aonach Mor, again.

Aonach Mor: summit plateau.

Unlike yesterday I didn't see anyone on the hill today. Perhaps given the poor visibility and wet windy conditions this isn't that surprising.

Poor visibility on Aonach Mor.

Lower cloud moving in from the West.

The summit of Aonach Mor.

Although not on this photo there were quite a number of people enjoying a walk on Aonach Mor today.

Not much visibility on Aonach Mor

Along the top of the West Face of Aonach Mor.

Winter is back!

No snow out west. It didn't really get this far. Light dusting on the Rum Cuillin in the distance

Distant shot of the Carn Dearg Buttress on the Ben. With the North Easterly winds, this side of the Ben is pretty scoured. Note the wind transportation in the foreground.

Strong NE winds with the fresh snow has created main deposits around the tops of West aspects. The above shot shows typical accumulations. These lying on grass/bare ground.