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

The Lecht has had the Wren Magic Carpet open daily on the nursery slopes with machine made snow and snow making is continuing, with snow now being accumulated on the adjacent Robin Run with a view to opening it soon to provide additional beginner areas. Full cover on the Wren providing great areas for learning and particularly for little ones with all the facilities just seconds away in the Base Lodge.

Glencoe reopened the Coire Pollach Tow on Sunday with a 300m loop of machine made snow via the Plateau Cafe on the middle fork of Old Mugs Alley. There are a couple of rails and a pipe jib out. The snow factory is running and more snow piles are being accumulated to push out as the ground cools down again and the 2 fan guns can run when conditions permit. Sledging is also available just up from the Plateau Cafe.

Monday sees a ridge of high pressure set to give a fine day with light winds and good Sunny spells across the Highland mountains so it could be a good day for getting the pre-schoolers out at the Lecht and for getting your ski legs back on the Coire Pollach at Glencoe.

Both the Lecht and Glencoe were able to officially kick of the Scottish lift served season on Saturday 1st December, with Glencoe offering a 300m run on Old Mugs Alley from the Coire Pollach Tow, in both cases down to machine made snow from their respective snowfactories.

However the best and longest ski run that can be had at the moment is on natural snow and on CairnGorm, in the form of the Ciste Gully which has offered around 1200ft of vertical on fantastic granular spring snow over the past few days those for prepared to do the leg work.

Of course the big news in Scottish Snowsports this autumn has not been the snow factories or positive new developments, but has been the deepening shambles that is CairnGorm Mountain Ltd, firstly with the funicular rarely running in September before HIE and CML went public on the scale of the issue at the start of October with the news that the Funicular was closed indefinitely. The subsequent collapse of CML into administration is though a blessing in not so much disguise, thankfully ending the catastrophic control of Natural Retreats.

However the administration of CML and the challenges of late autumn / early winter weather for highly specialised work have contributed to further delays in to the report on the condition of the funicular, which is now not expected until near Christmas.

A question and answer session with some of the parties involved in the Funicular Response Group was held in Aviemore on Thursday evening and though HIE were not present, HIE has reportedly given an undertaking that CML season passes will be honoured on the mountain for the upcoming season. That though obviously does not address the issues of those who feel as if they were miss-sold early bird passes in September and families with young children who will be able to make little or any use of their passes if the Funicular doesn't operate.

The large double unit TechnoAlpin Snowfactory has been running intermittently today as commissioning work nears completion and it should soon be fully operational on CairnGorm.

:: Warren Miller Film Tour

If winter puts a smile on your face, it?s something you had in common with the late, great Warren Miller. This season don?t miss Warren Miller's Face of Winter , the 69th annual film from Warren Miller Entertainment. Visit some of Warren?s favorite locations, from Engleberg, Switzerland to Chamonix, British Columbia to Alaska, Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, Washington and more.

Watch world-class skiers like Jessie Diggins and catch big mountain athletes like Anna Segal, Dash Longe, Forrest Jillson, Amie Engerbretson, Seth Wescott, Jim Ryan, Marcus Caston and others as they carve down the faces of remote mountain ranges and come together to pay tribute to the man who started it all and celebrate a life lived in high places.

Fantastic intermission prizes to be won. Join us to continue the legacy this season and explore warrenmiller.co.uk for more.

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:: Mid Summer Slide at Glencoe

Glencoe held a mid-summer ski and ride day on the Saturday just after the Summer Solstice (23rd June). Check out the photos in the Pix from the Slopes.

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:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

A transient ridge of high pressure will give a benign day on Monday with some decent sunny spells likely, though sporadic inversions may mean mist hangs around at lower elevations in some locations. Minus 2 to +2 at Munro Level with the freezing level generally around 1500ft, though a frost in many glens overnight.

Tuesday will see freshening Southerly winds, best change of any brighter spells to the North of the main ranges so the Lecht may escape with a fairly fine day though it will be quite blustery with the wind potentially funnelling through the pass at times. FL rising above the tops but largely dry with only a few light sporadic showers expected. Wind gusting 45 to 55mph later.

Freezing on the higher Munros again on Wednesday with a strong SE wind, tending to be gustier through the Nevis Range and on Northern downslopes around the Cairngorm Plateau due to topographic wind acceleration. Light snow showers on the whole not expected to amount to much more than a flurry, bit it could be particularly murky on hills in the SE Cairngorms.

Slight drop in temperatures expected on Thursday with strengthening SE winds across Highland mountains on the NE of a low pressure system, Severe Gales likely to develop though detail not by any means nailed on. However the general picture is an unsettled and quite stormy end to the week with lows rolling in of the Atlantic, on balance likely to be fluctuating temperature with thaw/freeze cycles.

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:: Club Fields

We will update on Club Field conditions as and when there is snow to report on. Find out more:

www.yadmoss.co.uk 01228 561634
ski-allenheads.co.uk 0191 5974 174
www.skiweardale.com 01388 317767
www.ldscsnowski.co.uk

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:: Webcams and Weather Stations

Lowther Hill: Off grid Summit Camera and Leadhills Village Camera online.

CAIRNGORM: Aviemore Cams online. Loch Morlich Cam online.

GLENCOE: All cams are online.

NEVIS: Front of mountain cams online. No mobile data at present at the Braveheart Drive,
Changes to the local mobile network infrastructure mean a change of operator will from early winter provide a more robust service to the Braveheart webcam and the equipment will be upgraded once the winter season is underway and the Gondola back in service.

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