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

Tuesday was the warmest day of the year so far, a good number of spots in Highland Scotland exceeding 20°c and there were a fair few red faces heading off the slopes this afternoon! CairnGorm will have the brightest start, but early cloud should thin and break up by mid morning in the West and both Glencoe and Nevis should catch the afternoon rays. So be sure to put on a decent factor sunscreen to avoid the boiled lobster look!

It has been a fairly spectacular weather roller coaster over the last few days, with heavy snow preceding and during Storm Dave to the warmth today. A weather station outside Grantown saw an overnight low of -3.4°c and a high today of 20.8°c, giving an impressive 24.2°c dirunal swing in temperature!

The wind is anticipated to be less on CairnGorm and Aonach Mor on Wednesday as the direction veers to SW from the SE wind on Tuesday. However a weakening cold front pushing into the ridge of high pressure was expected to give light rain in parts of the West Highlands tonight, is currently looking a bit more active than merely light on the radar.

While at Glencoe if the Plateau Poma uptrack does not last the night there is the option of the Rannoch Chair, to access Old Mugs Alley to get to the Cliffhanger Chair, or the 6-7 minute hoof across the Plateau that actually would get you to the Cliffy quicker! But at Nevis Range if the Alpha uptrack beyond the dryslope expires, the plan to reopen the Goose T-bar on Wednesday will be scuppered (so check in the morning).

Across the open terrain at CairnGorm and Glencoe, the rapid rise in temperature has left areas which have been less trafficked rather slow and sticky, the more heavily used / pisted an area of snow was, the better it was riding on Tuesday and that will hold for Wednesday too.

A bit more gradient on days like Tuesday will help too, so no surprise that the Main Basin and Spring Run at Glencoe and the White Lady at CairnGorm were the picks of the day.

CairnGorm has a solid base on the open terrain on the mid and upper mountain, so though there will continue to be a progressive cosmetic loss of thinner recent snow cover from open slopes, not much change is expected on the runs that have been open recently.

At Glencoe the same will hold for the upper mountain runs and the Wall (mid mountain red), where there has been change in cover despite the warm temperatures on Tuesday. However, due to the recent accumulations from Storm Dave, Glencoe had been able to reopen the Plateau Poma and Coire Pollach Tows on Easter Monday. But with almost no base under the recent unconsolidated snow on the Plateau runs, away from Old Mugs Alley they are getting thin and patchy. At the end of Tuesday it was still possible to patch hop down the Plateau Poma run and the Poma could at the end of the day still run for access. Colder conditions and a return to mountain snow is expected later in the week. Check out the photos from the past 3 days for a full report on conditions at Glencoe.

Nevis Range opened the Alpha Tow on Tuesday serving a run in the loop round the Home Run / Rabbit Run and plan to reopen the Goose T-bar on Wednesday. This is dependent on the Alpha uptrack being assessed AM. The Goose run is complete to the base of the Tow and the upper Goose has wide cover. However, the Goose has only seen a small number of ski tourers on it prior to the warmth of Tuesday and having got a decent pile of fresh snow in Storm Dave is thus likely to be fairly slow and sticky.

Glenshee and the Lecht are currently closed for snowsports. At update the CairnGorm Ski Road, the A939 Lecht Pass and the A93 Cairnwell Pass were open and clear.

:: Glencoe Sledge Park

The Sledge Park is full length and in great condition. Snowmaking continues round the clock. There are over 150 sledges to grab at the Plateau Cafe, sledging is complimentary!

It is advisable to arrive before 2.30pm 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 lunch time. Last chair down scheduled for 4.30pm.

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:: 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/ .

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:: Mountain Weather

At 6pm in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut (850m) the temperature was +9.0°c, no wind data is available. At the Top of the Access (671m) it was +11.1°c. At Base level (366m) it was +14.5°c with the wind at 2 gusting 6mph.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting +6.2°c. The Met Office station was reporting a South wind at 31 gusting 60mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +11.1°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +14.6°c.

In the East the summit weather stations on CairnGorm reported +6.1°c, with a Southerly at a mean of 45 gusting 57mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6pm was +17.0°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS reported +8.3°c with a South East wind at a mean of 19 gusting 35mph.

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:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

A more overcast start for Wednesday, particularly in the West, with a risk of lower cloud and drizzle on hills closest to the coast first thing, but this should clear out and by mid morning cloud will be lifting and breaking with sunny spells developing. Further East things should start brighter from the word go and with the wind veering to SW from the SE wind on Tuesday, speeds should be lower around the Northern Cairngorms and in the Nevis Range. Less warm than Tuesday with +5 to +6 expected daytime peak at Munro Level.

Balance of model output suggests cooler conditions returning to the Scottish mountains to end the week. A cool Westerly on Thursday with mountain snow showers coming in from the West, mixed with some brighter spells, fewer showers and more brightness in the East. Munro Level temperature likely to be around 0 to minus 1°c. Stiff Westerly wind around 20 to 25mph with gusts to 40mph widely at Munro Level.

Possibly more organised mountain snow in the West on Friday with a strong or Gale Force Southerly wind, more showery in the East. Munro Level temperature most likely to be in the region of -1 to -2°c!

The start of next weekend looks like Highland Scotland being close to the boundary between light and variable winds and stormy Southerlies. On balance the model output leans towards light to moderate winds. A mix of sunny spells and snow showers for the mountains.

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:: Webcams and Weather Stations

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

GLENCOE: All mountain webcams online and the first updated images are shortly after 6am (BST). Sledge Park camera streams overnight. The mid mountain weather station wind direction is not working, other data valid.

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