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

High pressure is now firmly in charge of the weather and it looks a great week / weekend for mountain activities.

Unfortunately the high pressure didn?t come in quick enough to prevent more damage to the snow cover last Friday night, with now only CairnGorm still open for lift served riding. We should see classic spring conditions under high pressure with diurnal freeze/thaw cycling. Thus surface conditions getting better with each cycle with the old base snow yielding up classic granular spring snow corn.

On CairnGorm, surface lift operation is now limited to just the Ptarmigan Tow and the Polar Express Trainer Tow in the Top Basin, giving access to the Ptarmigan Traverse and Bowl, plus the terrain park. Top to mid-station riding is still on via the White Lady (red) for advanced skiers and boarders with uplift via the Funicular giving 1300ft of vertical. The White Lady may be closed first thing if the snow sets up hard overnight, but it should loosen quickly in the coming days.

The Traverse remains decent, but the upper Cas is broken and you will need to unclip if you come down this way. The Gunbarrel is narrow, but still fairly flat at present. This route is only suitable now for more confident intermediates and above, for easier green terrain stay in the Ptarmigan Bowl.

With the White Lady having a still fairly robust base from the SE storms in January, old snow should offer up superb spring corn snow over the coming days, with spring snow bumps building.

If you are prepared to do the leg work the Ciste Gully is complete to the level of the fence above the former boardwalk and should similarly offer up superb spring snow turns. However, please note that the Funicular touring pass is not available currently.

Glencoe is now the domain of tourers and those prepared to hike for some turns, but the Main Basin and Spring Run remain complete and along with the Flypaper Bowl were seeing action in recent days. Beware of the Flypaper both early and once in shade for the surface quickly firming up in the dry air, when at its softest risk of surface sluffing. Remember the mountain is unpatrolled now!

Season Pass holders can continue to use the Access Chair. The Plateau Cafe is open daily through Monday 4th May, from 10am to 3pm.

Mid mountain the Wall (red) is the best route down the mid mountain (mostly) on snow. Otherwise it is more of walking than skiing on Mugs Alley.

The Upper Goose and summit area at Nevis and the Back Corries also retain a decent amount of snow for tourers / hiking for turns.

:: Glencoe Sledge Park

The Sledge Park is full length and in reasonable and improving condition, with snow making resumed following the commissioning of a new snow factory unit! There are over 150 sledges to grab at the Plateau Cafe, sledging is complimentary!

It is advisable to arrive before 2.45pm 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 Glencoe, the summit AWS on Meall a Bhuiridh (1097m) was reporting a temperature of +2.8°c, with a variable wind at 4 gusting 15mph. At the SSC hut (850m) the temperature was +5.0°c. At Base level (366m) it was +10.3°c with the wind at 4 gusting 9mph.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting +4.3°c. The Met Office station was reporting a West wind at 8 gusting 27mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +7.4°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +12.9°c.

In the East the summit weather stations on CairnGorm reported +0.4°c, with an Easterly at a mean of 21 gusting 30mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6pm was +10.8°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS reported +3.3°c with an East wind at a mean of 21 gusting 27mph.

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:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

With Northern Blocking now firmly in place with a high pressure to the immediate North of Scotland the weather is set fair through the remainder of the week. A moderate Easterly breeze on Wednesday underneath the high will ease away during Thursday as the high builds in situ across Highland Scotland. Warmest weather likely to be in the glens of the West Highlands, pushing 20°c by Thursday in a few spots and possibly more widely on Friday.

Some inversion mist may form in the glens, but should soon burn off in the strengthening spring sunshine. Munro Level temperatures around 0 to +2°c on post dawn on Wednesday, but lifting progressively to around +5 to +6°c by afternoon and may peak a couple of degrees higher in the sunniest areas of the West Highlands. East to SE wind around 15 gusting 25mph, but occasionally stronger gusts on Western / NW downslopes.

With the wind moderating and becoming light and variable there will be a trend upwards through the week day by day of temperature. Despite that, snow should still crunch up overnight under clear skies.

On Thursday extensive sunshine and less of an Easterly breeze should see Munro Level push towards 7 to 8°c widely, again perhaps a degree or two warmer in the West. By Friday Munro Level temperatures should be pushing in to double figures widely in the afternoon with a light and variable breeze.

With still high level snow cover on the mountains, intensifying the effect of the extensive and increasingly unbroken sunshine, be aware of the serious sunburn risk in the coming day!

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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 around 5.30am (BST). Sledge Park camera streams overnight. Replacement Summit AWS has been installed and temperature data is available from 4 levels. Wind speed currently available at summit and base.

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