•Glencoe Sledge Park

•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

Wind speeds will progressively rise from the West during Tuesday afternoon, sustained Severe Gales with bouts of Storm Force winds. Potentially significant mountain snow accumulations in the West Highlands.

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

Spring snow riding on offer at CairnGorm. Glencoe and Glenshee on Monday, little change in snow extent for better or worse in the past couple of days, but after Tuesday morning uplift may frequently be restricted to varying extents by what looks like a sustained spell of fairly high winds, with bouts of Storm Force or above winds as lows track close to or pass through Highland Scotland. There is a risk of an early close to some uplift on Tuesday. The Lecht was closed today and will stay shut on Tuesday, but hopes to reopen a beginner run and the Buzzard weather permitting on Wednesday.

Potentially significant mountain snowfall incoming, particularly for the West Highlands as we go through the coming week. Initially snow will only be at higher levels, with uncertainty about extent of overnight snow vs rain to all levels on Tuesday night as a small shift in the track of a frontal system will mean quite a big difference in outcome for the ski areas. However, beyond then the freezing level progressively lowers to or below the lower slopes, with the heaviest falls precipitation expected Wednesday, overnight and through Thursday. Towards the weekend indications point to lighter winds for Saturday, but models are split between that continuing for Sunday and a potentially significant storm system moving in!

For Tuesday the East has the most extensive terrain at CairnGorm and Glenshee, but the current conditions should be historical information by the weekend and hopefully for the better, particularly for Glencoe.

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. Please note that the first train up will be 10am during the week.

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!

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. This means Glenshee is most likely to be able to offer some main run terrain mid-week, subject to the road, while it looks like wind speeds could some days keep even the Funicular shut on CairnGorm.

For novices, at CairnGorm the magic carpets are currently 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. The Dink Dink and Rope Tow area is reasonable at Glenshee.


At Glencoe 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 earlier in the season, 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, when ambient conditions lets the snowpack loosens up to spring snow the upper mountain is a whole lot of fun. But early in the day, unless it has stayed soft, the pisted lines on Happy Valley and the Main Basin are where to start! 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.

If forecasts pan out as they currently look, potentially could see the Plateau reopen at Glencoe which would tilt the balance for easier terrain to the West. Mid mountain very significant drifting is required to fill in the natural terrain that forms the majority of the mid mountain runs.

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 6pm in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut (850m) the temperature was +2.4°c, with the wind at 12 gusting 25mph. At the Top of the Access (671m) it was +3.9°c. At Base level (366m) it was +5.6°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -0.2°c. The Met Office station was reporting a SW wind at 27 gusting 46mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +3.4°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +6.1°c.

In the East the summit weather stations on CairnGorm reported +0.1°c, with a Southerly at a mean of 35 gusting 43mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6pm was +8.2°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS reported +2.1°c with a Southerly at a mean of 29 gusting 38mph.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

Tuesday will see snow showers pick up through the dawn period in the West, around -2 to -1°c at Munro Level at opening. The freezing level will edge up during the day, with plus 1°c at Munro Level by lunchtime. Showers will be less frequent in the East and with a SW backing Southerly wind, some brighter spells possible towards the Northern Cairngorms.

Whether precipitation into the evening falls as rain or snow on the upper mountain is uncertain, it looks as if the triple point of the frontal system will pass close to the ski areas, if the warm sector occludes out before reaching the ski areas at least the higher terrain should see heavy overnight snow, but any exposure to the warm sector is expected to bring rain to all levels.

Tuesday morning will see SW winds around 20 to 25mph gusting 35mph, higher through the dawn period in the Northern Cairngorms. By the middle of the day the wind will begin to back Southerly and increase significantly from the West, 40 gusting 60mph widely, 50 gusting 70mph Northern Cairngorms by late afternoon, with risk of increasing further post dusk to mean speeds of 70 to 80mph for a period with significantly higher gusts in prone areas. If snow does fall onto upper level terrain, the strength of the wind may drive it lower than the freezing level suggests.

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 from the early hours lowering -1 or -2°c at Munro Level later.

Wednesday afternoon or into the evening looks set to see wind speeds increase once again 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. Snow totals of between 20 and 40cm are possible for some West Coast mountains from Wednesday lunchtime through into Thursday, with potentially another round Thursday night persisting through Friday before easing to a mix of sunshine and snow showers on Saturday.

While the West will see the heaviest precipitation given the wind will predominantly come from the SW quadrant, there is scope for between 10 to 20cm of snow for the Cairngorms from mid-week.

:: 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.