General Situation // Scottish Ski & Winter Activity Report // Winterhighland

After lunchtime on Monday wind speeds begun to increase once again as snow pushed into the Cairngorms, this has given a further covering of snow at Glenshee on what was a spring snow base, but the older snow is likely to crunch up tonight as temperatures fall back. That should give fantastic on piste groomers, but means there is a risk of breakable crust on unpisted stuff, something to keep in mind along with the avalanche risk if touring.

On CairnGorm snow started to blow in and rising wind speed caused an early close to the upper mountain tows, then the M1 Poma on Monday. It is unlikely the upper tows or M1 Poma will run on Tuesday unless the forecast has over egged the wind speeds.

At update all East Coast access roads were open, but the freezing level will quickly fall below carpark level this evening, so snow and some drifting will affect the roads AM. Check www.snowgatecameras.co.uk in the morning!

Though snow has consolidated at mid and lower mountain level, even before new snow fell there is still a well of loose snow to blow about high up on the Cairngorm Plateau, so there is a possibility that some digging will be required of the Funicular tunnel in the morning.

Glencoe is usually the safest bet in SE winds from the wind perspective, but it is Glencoe and the Lecht that have had the most persistently poor visibility recently in this sustained SEly pattern. However, the plus side is Glencoe should be open to the top on Tuesday, where as CairnGorm is likely to see uplift restricted by wind and it is unlikely chairs other than the Baddoch will run at Glenshee.

Overall because of the persistence of wind from the SE quadrant, Glenshee has by some distance amassed the most falling snow, while CairnGorm has gained masses of windblown snow from the sustained high winds over the Plateau.

A rise in the freezing level later Saturday has persisted through to this afternoon. Lower and mid elevation terrain has seen fluctuating temperatures so were softening machine groomed / skier packed snow, becoming increasingly spring snow in places at Glenshee. But the lower elevation Lecht and Carpark Run at CairnGorm and Plateau at Glencoe have seen a bit of a hit on what was fairly thin snow cover. Best route down to Daylodge from the top was via the Daylodge Poma on CairnGorm.

At the Lecht the main runs had some thin/worn sections on the steeper pitches, but these were already improving by dusk on Monday.

Glencoe is best suited to more advanced riders at present as the best riding by far is on the upper mountain. However most uplift with the exception of the Wall T-bar can run, with the Rannoch Button making its season debut on Saturday on the upper mountain. The Plateau cover is fairly decent at the top, but rather fizzles out on the lower quarter, also
some of the better snow is on the wrong side of the fence lines on some of the Plateau runs due to the persistent SE wind. As SE winds look likely to pick up again this week, Glencoe may be the safer bet for wind, but not for visibility, if wind turns more East than SE then Glencoe should hopefully see less clag than last week!

All facilities at Nevis Range have been closed since Monday 5th January, including the base area. There is no lift assisted access to Aonach Mor for tourers or winter climbers until Wednesday 4th February (SE winds permitting).

:: Glencoe Sledge Park

The Sledge Park at the Plateau Cafe is in excellent condition! 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, last chair up at 3.45pm and last chair down at 4pm. Sledgers keep in mind, the Access Chair will be busier at the end of weekend days with snowsports underway, much quieter during the week, if you can take little ones then.

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:: England Club Fields

Weardale was able to operate on Wednesday and Friday. At Raise the wind direction unfortunately scoured the Poma slope!

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/ .

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:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

Over the coming days a similar pattern to pre Storm Chandra looks likely to persist, FL bouncing around between slightly below and slightly above the lower slopes, wind generally from the SE quadrant and speeds fluctuating, though perhaps direction will settle to closer to East than SE as the week goes on.

More organised snow pushed into the SE Highlands during Monday and 15 to 20cm of snow is possible in the SE Cairngorms through Monday night and Tuesday.

SE winds are also expected to strengthen further overnight and Tuesday could see gusts to between 60 and 70mph on the Cairngorm Plateau and northern downslopes. Whiteout conditions are expected at height. More generally 35 to 40 gusting 50mph around Munro Level. A colder day than the weekend on Tuesday, with Munro Level temperature ranging from -3 to -4°c at the freezing level around or a bit below 1500ft. Widely overcast with varying visibility in the West, all areas seeing some new snowfall, but snow more persistent in the Cairngorms and heaviest towards the SE sector.

Mixed signals at this stage whether Wednesday or Thursday is likely to be the calmer day, with more fresh snow to start the week, keep eyes peeled on the forecasts for picking the day for a mid-week slide!

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:: Webcams and Weather Stations

Lowther Hill: Leadhills webcam is online (24/7). A power cut affected the camera, it is back online, but some fogging of the lens was apparent, this is now improving and it looks like the camera will clear up itself before we can revisit it.

GLENCOE: All mountain webcams online and the first updated images are from the Top of the Access Chair shortly after 7am, other cams come on by 7.45am. The mid mountain weather station wind direction is not working, other data valid.

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