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| Northern Corries
15/12/06 |
Ducks on Loch
Morlich! |
15th December 2006...The weather outlook is very very promising with
subzero temperatures and more snow showers for Saturday then the winds
dropping on Sunday. This will continue to firm up the snow and re-build
the ice hopefully then giving good climbing conditions in the gullies and
mixed routes by early next week. The weather forecast looks really good
for the start of the week with light winds, low freezing levels and even
some sun so start sharpening your picks ....
The Scottish avalanche information service (SAIS) is now up and running
and the latest report can be found
here though it looks
like the Cairngorm Report is a bit muddled with the days and dates though
Category 3 risk is forecast for tomorrow I think...!!!
For the boarders and skiers the good news is the ski area has retained
it's base and Cairngorm is opening it's top runs tomorrow weather
permitting. With more fresh snow forecast on Saturday this should soften
up the surface base of old snow ice retained after the thaw. It looks like
Coire Cas has retained snow along some of the middle runs between the snow
fences and even the traverse, top Cas and gun barrel looked white from
afar so if the uplift stops at midstation it may be possible to link the
snow all the way to midstation on a good base no promises though...!
Finally thanks to Fi for all the photos of ducks revelling in the
conditions, so if you are a duck you know where to come....!!!!
All in all a great start to the winter climbing and skiing season and
just in time for the Xmas holiday period... :-)
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| Northern Corries at
14/12/06 |
close up at 10:00
am |
Flooding on
Speyside |
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Flooded on ski road |
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Thursday 14th December 2006...The rain stopped
this morning, it cleared and the temperature at 10:00 am was 5 degrees in
Aviemore. Unbelievably the Cairngorm Northern Corries looked like they had
gained more snow in the gullies and headwalls despite the past few days of
thaw after the winter storms. The torrential rain has swollen the rivers
with widespread flooding along Speyside. The ski road was flooded at the
fish farm and water was lapping at the doors of the Old Bridge Inn and the
caravan park in Aviemore. The good news is with lower temperatures the
snow should start to freeze up and we have a net gain.
Wednesday 13th December 2006...The torrential
rain and and an afternoon high of 10 Celsius in Aviemore is taking it's
toll on the recent cover of fresh snow in the mountains. It's to be fairly
warm overnight before the freezing level drops again later on Thursday.
Tomorrow morning should be interesting just to see how much of the snow
pack has survived. I'm pretty certain that the main easier main gully
lines and Coire headwalls will retain a good depth of old snow to refreeze
and build-up to provide good sport at the weekend. Tomorrow will tell but
one thing is certain that with all the flooding, wet snow and saturated
ground any prolonged spell of cold weather should provide good snow ice
conditions...!
Tuesday 12th December 2006...Conditions at the
moment are very stormy and the Cairngorms are being severely wind scoured
with drifts of fresh windslab building in lee aspects. The main Coire
headwalls and gullies survived Sundays thaw well and have now refrozen. On
Monday the buttresses were very black but last night and today Tuesday
we've had lots of heavy snow showers down to quite low levels. There's a
bit of a thaw forecast for later on in the week before it cools down again
and the outlook is looking promising. We do need several days of hard
frost though as with only one or two days slight frost such as last
weekend only the snow surface will freeze up creating a breakable crust.
Last weekend the cornices while fairly big in places were by no mean
anything unusual for a normal winter. The bulk of the cornices, upper
slopes and gullies were pretty well consolidated towards the top with good
neve in places on Saturday. It was soft in many of the approaches though
and the turf not really frozen at the weekend. Overall the build-up is
very good for the time of year and great for winter mountaineering.
Sunday 10th December 2006...Mild wet and
stormy today although the bulk of the rain compared to the west and south
didn't arrive in the north east until early evening. Cairngorm weather
station recorded summit temperature of plus 4 Celsius by mid afternoon and
there has been some superficial snow loss but overall a brief thaw
and refreeze should consolidate the deeper drifts without too much loss.
Mondays forecast is for the freezing level to drop to 650 metres but with
40 to 50 mph winds and gusts to 75 from the west, southwest and with snow
showers mainly west. A day to stay in front of the fire...!
Saturday 9th December 2006...Lots of climbing and even skiing being
done although it wasn't quite as cold as hoped for and the bottom of many
routes were still very soft. Conditions varied from wind scoured soft neve
to knee deep powder depending on the aspect and the route climbed. I spoke
to several climbers who'd been on routes such as the Slant, Jacob's,
Aladdin's, Crotched and Spiral in Coire an t-Sneachda and on Milky Way and
Oesophagus in Coire an Lochain. Most reported that the snow was still
quite soft and the turf unfrozen underneath. The general conclusion is
that climbing conditions are fair but not brilliant as one would expect at
early season. There are some reasonable sized cornices on Jacob's,
Crotched and other north aspects which proved entertaining or worrying to
those climbing them OR retreating. Mention was made of pockets of deep
slabby snow on some crag aprons in Coire an Lochain and powder on Milky
Way.
I can report that the upper pitches of Aladdin's and the Mirror are
filled with reasonable firmish snow although the approach and narrows were
quite soft. There was very little thick ice build-up in the gullies
although the upper buttresses and cracks were quite icy and thinly rimed.
The plateaux is wind scoured with deep drifts in places. Very little
build-up reported on Hells Lum or on the Shelterstone crag.
The upper ski runs in Coire Na Ciste and the Ptarmigan were open today
providing good if somewhat expensive skiing with fresh snow on the old
base. It was possible to ski down via the traverse and upper zig zags
before the cover thinned out. Nice powder reported off piste in Ciste
Mhearid. On return from point 1141 there is good firm snow all the way
down where cornices have built up along side the Coire Cas rim and along
the line of the old Fiacaill tow snow fences. This is good for the old
knees and toes though don't stray too close to the edge....!
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