•Glencoe Sledge Park

•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

Glencoe celebrated the 70th anniversary of the opening of the original Main Basin Tow on Friday evening. Saturday brought a soggy start to the 8th decade of lift served riding on Meall a' Bhuiridh! Monday will bring up to 10-12cm of new snow for upper slopes at Glencoe, but will the wind allow play?

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.

Winds were slightly higher than forecast and restricted uplift on Sunday, similar speeds for a time on Monday morning, though forecast to ease a bit as the day goes on. But it now looks like the strong winds will not moderate more substantially until into the evening, before picking up again for Tuesday.

Nevis Range and Glencoe were closed completely on Sunday due to the wind, CairnGorm did not have any surface lifts open above the Cas Tow, though did manage to offer access to the mid mountain runs from the M2 round to the Traverse from the train. Glenshee after a bit of a delay did get the Caenlochan Poma going but it was too windy for the chairlifts.

This afternoon the freezing level came back down slightly in the West and snow has intermittently been falling to slightly below the top of the Access Chair. Some West Coast Munros could potentially see around 10 to 12cm of snow overnight into Monday morning. If the wind permits play, there should be some freshies to get at on the upper mountain at Glencoe, but looking at the weather station data vs forecast, it looks likely the bottom of the Plateau will lose a bit more overnight and there is not much to lose.

So the Poma track may need some work in the morning, so it may be a hoof over the Plateau to the Cliffhanger (or the Coire Pollach Tow for those who want to take the long way round to shorten the walk to the Cliffhanger)! The upper mountain has a good base, though the deepest snow cover is in unusual places to due the persistent SE winds earlier in the season.

However wind could be an issue again, particularly until mid to late morning, probably best to hold off for updates, with half term almost completely over, mid-week ticket prices will apply and there will be no issues with availability. Nevis Range will not attempt to open for snowsports on Monday or Tuesday and will review the weather situation for Wednesday.

In the East, cover was holding up well, so despite no upper lifts running there was a good range of options available on CairnGorm with the both the Carpark Run and the M2/Daylodge providing routes back to the Cas Carpark. The East Lady, White Lady and M1 are in good shape for more experienced riders with spring snow conditions. The Ciste Gully was open on Saturday, but it is not directly possible to regain the West Wall Poma on snow, while it was not possible to ski all the way out the Ciste Gully to the carpark, it was possible to get to within a few minutes hoofing of the carpark and shuttle bus on Saturday for a longer run.

Glenshee has seen some snow loss from the South facing Butcharts area where cover was much thinner, but West aspects and fenced runs on the East aspects retain great cover, with more spring like snow, Meall Odhar was one big playground of different terrain and wind features from the Caenlochan Poma. Staff continuing to work on the Fionn Pomas to get out into the third valley.

The Lecht has seen some snow loss, but the main side runs are still mostly full width between the fences, though some worn / scrapped areas are appearing, mainly on the steeper mid pitch of the main runs. The Buzzard side retains a wide and extensive cover and is the pick for more experienced riders.

For beginners, all 3 Eastern areas nursery slopes are in good shape. CairnGorm edges it for progression terrain because there is the option of using the funicular.

:: 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 on Tuesday, having previously missed out on the snow that has come persistently from the East or SE.

Yad Moss despite some thawing on Monday was able to open on Tuesday and Wednesday, but like in Scotland there was no repeat of the blue skies and light winds! No available operators meant the Poma did not run on Thursday and with the forecast for rising temperatures for Friday, more snow will be required for any of the Pennine fields 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 +0.8°c, wind at 21 gusting 44mph. At the Top of the Access (671m) it was +2.4°c. At Base level (366m) it was +4.4°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -1.4°c. The Met Office station was reporting a South Westerly at 31 gusting 45mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +1.3°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +4.3°c.

In the East the summit weather stations on CairnGorm reported -2.0°c, with a Westerly at a mean of 45 gusting 65mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6pm was +4.3°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS reported -0.5°c with a South Westerly at a mean of 30 gusting 52mph.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

Monday will see the freezing level edge up slightly on Sunday afternoon, to give a temperature of around +1°c expected at Munro Level for much of the day. Overnight mountain snow in the West will give way to showers post dawn, overhead thus will be similar to Sunday, with a mix of heavy wintry showers and sunny spells, though showers should fade out from the West by late morning or early afternoon.

Overnight precipitation will be less sustained and lighter in the East, but showers will linger into the afternoon for the Northern Cairngorms, falling as snow on the upper slopes. Monday morning is expected to start with wind speeds up a notch on Sunday, in the region of 40 to 50 gusting 60, risk 70mph before wind speeds ease slightly from the West, but what had looked like a marked lull for the afternoon, now looks less marked and likely to come late afternoon or around dusk. Unfortunately that looks to be a thing for the new week, the least wind / best overhead associated with transient ridges coming overnight!

Wind will be picking up again by the early hours of Tuesday, though possibly only moderate wind early Tuesday morning, by the middle of the day or early afternoon we are back to upland Gales. Wind increasing to be widely 30 to 50mph, but 40 gusting 60mph in more exposed locations. FL returning to above the summits with Munro Level temperature ranging from +3 to +5°c. Rain showers will start to come into the West during Tuesday morning, if not having reached by dawn, becoming clagged in again! At this stage it looks like the Cairngorms may just about get away with a dry Tuesday, with partly cloudy skies and some sunny spells for the North of the range. While wind may affect some uplift in the East, should be a good day of spring snow riding.

Rain showers in the West on Tuesday will intensify into persistent and heavier rain for Western mountains on Wednesday, giving a very poor day for winter activities, with a moderate to strong SSW wind. Rain showers under cloudy skies for the Southern Cairngorms, but with the wind SSW or Southerly in the East, shower should be less frequent with some brighter periods for CairnGorm and the Lecht. Around +3 to +4°c at Munro Level.

Becoming cooler by or during Thursday, with light snow showers on Eastern Munros, but more persistent mountain snowfall possibly coming into the Western mountains. On balance of model output expecting a Munro Level temperature between -1 and +1°c. But while there is a consensus of a cooler or colder NW flow to end the week, there is uncertainty about how quickly it will come in and how marked the drop in temperature will be. On Thursday expecting WSW wind, veering WNW.

Early indications for Friday is for a mix of sunny spells and hefty convective snow showers coming in on a strong to Gale Force NW wind. Freezing Level expected to be around or slightly below the lower slopes of the snowsports areas with around -2°c at Munro Level. However, forecast model data covers a range of +2 to around -6°c at 900m by the end of the 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 6.45am, other cams come on shortly after 7 to 7.15am. Sledge Park camera streams overnight. The mid mountain weather station wind direction is not working, other data valid.