•Glencoe Sledge Park

•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

At first light skies are largely clear in the East with some patchy high cloud to the South of the Cairngorms, but it is overcast in the West. Wind speeds much lower on CairnGorm as dawn comes in, so scheduled uplift should all open this morning!

Been out on the slopes - please send us your photos to the email address at the foot of this page.

Saturday started with a blue sky storm on CairnGorm limiting uplift for the main slopes initially to just the Funicular, that joined by the Ptarmigan Tow at the top as the wind went more South West, but it was only later in the day the wind really dropped away allowing the Cas Tow and the M1 Poma to come on. No such drama expected this morning with much lighter winds on CairnGorm. Yesterday the pick was the White Lady, catching wind blown fresh on top of fantastic mid winter machine groomed snow.

There is good top to mid-station riding for all ability levels on CairnGorm with a mix of green, blue and red terrain available from the Funicular for those who wish to avoid surface tows or at least have a fallback. Despite extensive cover in the Ciste Gully and on the East Wall the West Wall Poma is closed. See Saturday Pix from the Slopes for a full report for CairnGorm.

For more advanced riders, Glencoe, CairnGorm or Glenshee are all still good options, but for more confident intermediates comfortable with riding the Pomas, Glenshee has the most terrain on offer.

The Coire Fionn bowl accessible again with the reopening of one of the Fionn Pomas on Saturday, giving access to not just the fenced run by the Poma but the big expanse of snow from the top of Caenlochan. For blue run terrain the Home Run from the Top of Caenlochan round the flank of Meall Odhar to the Tom Dearg Poma has been the pick, while once (if) snow loosens up generally, the whole face of Meall Odhar has lots of fun lines for more experienced skiers and boarders. It?s just one big spring snow play park when it softens! For expert riders the Cairnwell Chair is giving access to the Tiger and Thunder Bowl, but the Tiger will be brutal if hard, speak to patrol / lift staff for the latest on the snow, but it will catch the sun earlier in the day than the Western aspects of Meall Odhar and Sunnyside.

Of lower level terrain the best across the snowsports areas is Sunnyside at Glenshee, the green here gives some good progression terrain for novices advancing from the Dink Dink. At CairnGorm it looks as if the magic carpets are now closed at the base, so while the Ptarmigan Bowl is great for progression terrain there will only be the Polar Express for novices for now, which introduces a bit more weather vulnerability as it is at the top. That looks like it could matter from mid week as it looks like the weather is going to get fairly rowdy in the coming week.

For Sunday the best option for beginners and particularly families teaching wee ones is the Lecht as the Wren Magic Carpet run has been topped up with snow factory and farmed snow for the weekend. However with only the Buzzard Poma running on the main slopes there is a lack of progression terrain.

At Glencoe this morning it is overcast, but the summit is clear, however there is a thin layer of inversion mist sitting around the Plateau as first light comes in. With the action restricted to the upper mountain, Glencoe is only suited to those comfortable with the more challenging end of the blue spectrum and above in terms of terrain. But with so much SE wind, the upper mountain is a bit back to front, so still the opportunity to ride parts of Meall a Bhuiridh that are not skiable all that often, if the snowpack loosens up to spring snow the upper mountain is a whole lot of fun, but early on stick to the pisted lines on Happy Valley and the Main Basin! A short walk is required down the path to return to the Cliffhanger and Plateau Cafe from Old Mugs Alley, the Cliffhanger Chair should be considered just for access presently. Only the Rannoch Button is running for uplift, but the uptrack is fully pisted and as mellow as it gets for the button.

Nevis Range is closed for lift served snowsports.

:: Glencoe Sledge Park

The Sledge Park is full length and in good shape thanks to snow making from the snow factory. There are over 150 sledges to grab at the Plateau Cafe! It is advisable to arrive before 2pm at the latest for sledging to get a decent amount of time on the hill. First chair up at 9am, the sledge park is always quietest before 11.30am. Last chair down scheduled for 4pm.

:: England Club Fields

All the club fields are waiting for new snow to be able to reopen.

For both Weardale and Allenheads, you need to join the club with a season pass, these are still available for both at this time.

Please check club access rules / availability if not a club member / pass holder.

Weardale: https: //skiweardale.com/ .
Allenheads: http://ski-allenheads.co.uk/ .
Yad Moss: https: //yadmoss.co.uk/ .
Raise: https: //www.ldscsnowski.co.uk/ .

:: Mountain Weather

At 6am in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut (850m) the temperature was +1.2°c, with the wind at 6 gusting 20mph. At the Top of the Access (671m) it was +1.4°c. At Base level (366m) it was +2.1°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -1.0°c. The Met Office station was reporting a WW wind at 29 gusting 37mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +4.0°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +3.8°c.

In the East the summit weather stations on CairnGorm reported -2.6°c, with a South Westerly at a mean of 19 gusting 27mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6am was -1.0°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS reported -1.6°c with a South Westerly at a mean of 15 gusting 19mph.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

Less wind around on Sunday morning compared to Saturday, the East should start with fairly clear skies and decent periods of sunshine, though some higher level cloud will build in later in the day. For the West Highlands a more overcast day, but some breaks may develop middle of the day away from the immediate coastal areas. At Munro Level around +2°c with a South West breeze generally around 20 gusting 30mph.

Monday looks like it might be the only fairly benign day of the week, while forecast detail later in the week is uncertain, it looks like the weather is going to get fairly rowdy at times and there is the potential (but not by any means certain) for significant mountain snowfall, particularly in the West later in the week. Tuesday will see wind speeds pick up during the day and from Wednesday onwards Severe Gales with bouts of Storm Force or above winds will affect Highland mountains. FL gradually nudging down, freeze thaw cycles for further South in Scotland and Northern England, but across the Central Highlands the Munro Level temperature will predominantly be at or below freezing.

Monday will be fairly overcast with some wintry showers in the Southern and Western parts of the Highlands with snow above Munro Level. Around +1 to +2°c at Munro Level, some brightness towards the North of the major mountain areas, so perhaps some brighter periods possible for CairnGorm and some sunshine at the Lecht. SW winds around 15 to 20mph with gusts to 30 to 35mph.

Tuesday will see snow showers pick up as the day goes on in the West, around 1°c at Munro Level. SW winds around 30 to 35mph gusting 45 to 50mph by the middle of the day, but a risk of increasing significantly through the afternoon. In the East a mix of some brighter spells towards the north and wintry showers. Freshening SW wind will reach Gale Force on and around the Cairngorms Plateau areas around 40 gusting 60mph.

A deepening low will see wind speeds ramp up either later afternoon or evening on Tuesday from the West, the exact depth and track will have a significant outcome on what transpires for the snowsports areas as it currently looks marginal between a fairly significant overnight snow event with blizzards developing vs just not that much deeper and further north, swinging the triple point of the low to the wrong side of the snowsports areas with a snow to heavy rain back to snow showers event as the warm sector passes over through the evening or overnight.

Winds may moderate from an overnight peak relatively speaking, but Gales are likely to continue through Wednesday with a mix of bright spells and snow showers in the East, more frequent snow showers with periods of whiteout in the West. Generally West between 30 to 45mph gusting 50 to 70mph in more exposed locations. Around 0 or -1°c at Munro Level.

Wednesday afternoon or into the evening looks set to see wind speeds increase further with Storm Force winds likely to persist into Thursday. At this stage later Wednesday and overnight into Thursday looks like it could be a significant mountain snow event for the West Highlands and crucially for Glencoe, this snow would come on West or SW winds which should fill areas of the upper mountain that have not fared so well in the sustained SE winds earlier this winter.

:: Webcams and Weather Stations

Lowther Hill: Leadhills webcam is online (24/7).

GLENCOE: All mountain webcams online and the first updated images are from the Top of the Access Chair are around 6am, other cams come on shortly after 6.20am. Sledge Park camera streams overnight. The mid mountain weather station wind direction is not working, other data valid.