•Glencoe Sledge Park

•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

No uplift for the second straight day in the West due to the continuing high SW winds, a gust of 91mph was recorded shortly after 10am mid mountain at Glencoe! East will be blustery, but fair much better for overhead over the next few days. All East Coast Access Roads open and clear at update.

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

Less wind expected on Wednesday, but overhead will for the most part be poorer than Tuesday, though there is a chance the very murky conditions that plagued Glencoe on Tuesday might actually improve somewhat in the steadier rain on Wednesday as it did at times on Saturday!

The wind was more Southerly than SW on Tuesday and this allowed Glencoe to open to the top, while kept CairnGorm limited to just the beginner carpets for the morning, with the Carpark Tow and later the funicular coming on for the afternoon. At Glenshee the wind kept the chairs and further out tows off, so no lift served access to the Tiger or Meall Odhar on Tuesday, but wind speeds look more favourable for at least the Caenlochan Poma to run on Wednesday.

With the daytime freezing level above the summits, the snow pack continues to consolidate and morph more towards granular spring snow, which would be great for exploring more terrain and lines, if just the visibility and wind would decide to play ball as the under ski conditions have generally been very forgiving.

On CairnGorm once the funicular opened on Tuesday, a swath of the mid mountain from the M2 round to the Coronation Wall and all the runs usually accessible from the Cas Tow became available, so even if the M1 Poma can not run on Wednesday if wind is a bit worse than forecast there should be plenty to get at and and it is much quieter with half term now finished. Ridable to the Daylodge via either the lower slopes or M2/Daylodge route, the later being the best option for confident intermediate and up. The Carpark Runs have some thinner areas developing, but a fair bit of shoving of snow down from mid-station level has re-enforced the cover so it is still easily passable.

Glenshee is the pick for more confident intermediates comfortable with the Pomas because there is a lot to get at. For the more experienced even if the Cairnwell Chair is off, Thunderbowl can be accessed from the Cairnwell Tow and Meall Odhar is just a huge expansive spring snow playground, do not confine oneself to just the vicinity of the Caenlochan Poma, get further out and explore, picking lines down to Tom Dearg or the Cluny Pomas to get back to the Caenlochan. For blue terrain riders, there is a long run down the ridge past the Fionn Poma top station round the Home Run to Tom Dearg that is a delight on spring snow.

The Lecht looks like it might be the driest / brightest on Wednesday. The main runs are holding up, full width between the fences, though there are some thin and scraped patches , particularly the steeper pitches of the Grouse runs. Links are still ok for moving around, but it is the Buzzard side which has the best cover with an extensive wide cover of spring snow beyond the fences, but it will lose some over the coming days as it will be facing right into the wind.

For novices, the Lecht and CairnGorm have the advantage of magic carpets, but the beginner area at Glenshee remains in good condition too. Glenshee has the edge for progression terrain from the nursery slopes at the moment as on CairnGorm you really want to head to the Top Basin for the next steps to get easy wide cover, but the wind could still be marginal for the highest tows on Wednesday and the top tows on CairnGorm are almost certainly not going to run on Thursday unless the forecast is miles out (and even if they did you would not want to be learning up there)!

In the West through Sunday / Monday the upper mountain at Glencoe gained windblown snow, while the lower mountain was losing snow. Glencoe is now really only suited to more experienced riders as the main action will be on the upper mountain which has a robust base, though the deepest snow pack is in rather unusual locations due to the dominance of SE winds this winter. For less experienced skiers and snowboarders, looking for longer green runs and easier end of the blue spectrum, the East has much more to offer at this time.

With the freezing level above the tops on Tuesday, the snowpack was consolidating on the upper mountain, but a steady thaw was ongoing lower down. The Plateau area is now broken and patchy with the exception of Old Mugs Alley, which provides a route to the Cliffhanger from the Rannoch Chair. Still a reasonable route from the mid mountain level back to the Cliffhanger via the top leg of Mugs Alley and out onto Old Mugs Alley, if the visibility allows there are actually quite a few variations possible on this. Wednesday will be a damp one, but the more granular nature of the snow now should keep the under ski conditions pretty decent, and wind should not be a problem factor on Wednesday.

Nevis Range will review snowsports options for Thursday into the weekend tomorrow, but only the Gondola will run on Wednesday. It looks unlikely any uplift including the Access Chair and Nevis Gondola will be able to run on Thursday, much more promising for Friday and Saturday.

:: 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, the sledge park is always quietest before 11.30am. Last chair down scheduled for 4pm.

:: England Club Fields

The Lake District Ski Clubs Raise Poma made its season debut last Tuesday, having previously missed out on the snow that has come persistently from the East or SE.

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 +3.6°c, wind at 19 gusting 48mph. At the Top of the Access (671m) it was +5.1°c. At Base level (366m) it was +7.7°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting +1.9°c. The Met Office station was reporting a Southerly at 22 gusting 40mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +6.0°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +8.8°c.

In the East the summit weather stations on CairnGorm reported +1.1°c, with a Southerly at a mean of 46 gusting 55mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6pm was +9.7°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS reported +3.1°c with a SW wind at a mean of 44 gusting 54mph.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

With the Southerly wind the best chance of some brighter overhead looks to be in the Northern Cairngorms, the West is expected to see fairly persistent rain throughout Wednesday, though there is expected to be less wind than recent days! Rain showers under cloudy skies for the Southern Cairngorms, but with the wind SSW or Southerly in the East, showers should be less frequent with some brighter periods possible for the Lecht. Around +3 to +4°c at Munro Level, potentially a degree higher towards the far North / NE of the Cairngorms.

Becoming cooler for Thursday morning, with light snow showers on Eastern Munros, but more frequent mountain snow showers coming into the Western mountains. But it now looks likely the FL will rise again for a few hours before falling back late afternoon or early evening. Likely minus 1 to 0°c rising +2 to +3°c for a period before falling back to 0 to +1°c later. Widespread upland SSW Gales, severe in places and likely the wind will trend up later as the temperature starts to lower once again, potentially reaching Storm Force for a time.

Forecast uncertainty for the detail on Friday remains significant, this is underlined by there still being a 12.5°c spread in the 850hpa temperature for early afternoon in the Central Highlands for Friday! The uncertainty is over whether a distinct single and deeper low pressure or a flabbier multi centered low pressure forms. However, even in some of the runs that develop a more significant low and thus track it further North, wind speeds are generally light and variable for at least the West Coast ski areas in the middle of the low on Friday morning, but with a risk of speeds rising later.

The balance of probabilities at this time favour Friday being a decent day in the West Highlands with a mix of sunny spells and slow moving snow showers with the temperature gradually lowering through Friday from around 0°c at Munro Level to -2°c later in the day. Unless the less likely deeper low scenario plays out, a light onshore Northerly breeze from the Moray Firth will bring light snowfall into the Northern Cairngorms.

A fast moving transient ridge of high pressure will build in from the West later in the night into Saturday morning, with Saturday looking highly likely to be the best day of the weekend.

For Saturday, a mix of brighter spells and snow showers in the Northern Cairngorms in the morning with a light N to NW wind over the approaching ridge, while the West Highlands should be dry, perhaps with extensive brightness in the morning at least under the peak of the ridge. Between -1 and -3°c at Munro Level. Light and variable wind in the West, spreading East.

While model runs then start to diverge quite quickly again, the likelihood is that the ridge will move through fairly quickly and Sunday will be more unsettled with a moderately high risk of strong winds ramping up once again.

:: 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 6.30am, other cams come on shortly after 6.45am. Sledge Park camera streams overnight. The mid mountain weather station wind direction is not working, other data valid.