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.

Mild and damp on Aonach Mor

A misty, damp and mild day on Aonach Mor. There is still good snow cover above around 900m on NE to SE facing slopes but the snowpack is moist or wet - it would be great to have some freezing conditions.

This is today's view of the North end of the Coire an Lochain crags from the "Climbers' Col".

The mild conditions continued today. The snowpack is gradually consolidating in the warm temperatures. The greatest hazard on Ben Nevis today was being hit by collapsing snow and ice. Saturated cornices are prone to spontaneous collapse. Observatory gully was filled with small shards of ice (see top picture). These are the remains of bigger chunks that have fallen of the crags during the past few days. The bottom pictures shows that there is some ice left on the crags around Point Five Gully.

Freezing rain on Aonach Mor

Another day with poor visibility on Aonach Mor. This is a view from the cairn at 1000m on Aonach an Nid looking south up the ridge.

Today's summit air temperature was at or just below freezing. The falling rain was freezing on contact with the ground, clothing, ropes, etc. A thin surface layer of rime was present on the snowpack above c1000m.

The freezing level was hovering around the 1200m mark today, with a thin crust on the snow surface at higher elevations. A few teams out on Aonach Mor doing various routes today. The snow conditions did not look as good as they were a couple of days ago. Despite the thaw, there is still plenty of snow around. Below is a photo of a winter skills group at around 850m.

Not a great deal happened today from a snow and avalanche point of view. In the continuing cold conditions the snowpack is slowly consolidating. The cloud base was generally about 1000m today, and this meant that we did not get a view of the crags on Aonach Mor. I imagine they are looking pretty white though. The picture shows a group practising winter skills at about 950m on the back of Aonach Mor. As can be seen there is lots of snow in some locations in the West Coast at the moment.

Visibility was very poor on the summits this morning (although it is clearing up now). Thick cloud like this really encourages the formation of hoar frost. Hoar frost forms on the wind ward side of objects. This is because the cloud consists of microscopic droplets of super cooled water. When these get blown onto surfaces they freeze on impact. Over time this process builds up a thick layer of snowy/icy material. Todays picture shows a hut on Aonach Mor looking fairly plastered in hoar

Up the Ben

Good amounts of snow up the Ben today, although virtually no fresh. Most of the snowpack has a very thin rime crust on the surface which has helped stability considerably. It still makes for some hard work when it comes to trail breaking though!
Quite a few teams out climbing today. Mass ascent of Ledge Route and quite a bit of activity on Carn Dearg Buttress. Photos to follow.....

View from Aonach Mor today.

Has anyone seen any avalanche activity up the Ben over the last few days? Please feel free to email me any details..

At last, a cloud free day on the summits. Cold with some fresh snowfall overnight. The NE wind has moved some of the soft windslab from yesterday. Most of the crags look plastered. Fab off-piste skiing today!

View up towards the crags on Aonach Mor.

Here is a shot of the shear that was obtained in the snowpit today. The bonding is inproving but the slab still pulls out in a fairly cohesive lump. It is sliding on a fairly thin melt-freeze crust that was formed a couple of nights ago.

A wild morning with some heavy snow showers. The picture shows an observer on an exposed ridge at an altitude of about 1000m. Large amounts of snow were being blown along the ground (note that you can't see the observers feet). This blown snow would form cornices and deposit windslab on lee slopes.

Back to trad conditions today. Come late afternoon, the freezing level had risen to around 1200m. Looks like it will get cold again overnight and the strong winds will ease durnng the day.

After inital snow it turned out to be a pleasant day on Aonach Mor. As this picture looking over to Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis shows, there is a fair bit of snow on high North and East aspects. There is ice building in the gullies and on the crags for climbers, and some fresh snow for skiers. However some caution is needed with all this fresh snow around.