CML - Sneachda Burn - Fiacaill Sneachda - Plateau North/East - Down Cas to CML.

Walking trip, but pics posted to show prospects for touring & gully skiing.

Sunny at lower levels. Thick mist on Plateau. Wind variable, from moderate breezy, to frequent calm. - In sun felt nicely hot, possible to wear only base layers on lower slopes. - Good day, apart from loss of visibility on top.

Snow fill strongly influenced by wind exposure & direction. Burns well filled & firm. Difficult walking if not on good crust. Most crust has light powder drifting on top. Despite wind scouring, most boulder fields are well filled over. - See pics of Fiacaill ridge, shows snow conditions off both sides East & West from the saddle before Plateau.

On Plateau, navigation very difficult in thick mist. Climbers on Fiacaill Routes reported Fiacaill Couloir well filled & safe. - But Goat Track path reported very heavy loaded & NOT safe yesterday. - Couldn't see for self due to mist.

Aladdin/Trident Gullies well corniced, probably not safe. - Pic of Jacob's Cornice, shows broken cornice, and cornice extending into back of picture. - Sorry about poor quality of Jacob's Cornice, but mist was real bad.

Jacob's, like other gulies, has enough snow to exit bottom on skis. - No signs of having been climbed yesterday - BUT, spoke to party who had observed avalanchs debris at bottom of Jacob's, which ties in with the broken cornice seen in pic.

HTH & Adam Brierley

hjborr at btinternet dot com

The Northern Corries
From Cairngorm Cas car park I cheated and used the tows to get to the top of the Ptarmigan. Skinned up to Cairngorm summit then skied off the south side to the rim of Sneachda to view the abandoned RAF helicopter.
Traversed round and skied down to the head of Coire Domhain
Skinned up to Cairn Lochan then skied down to the edge of the Lairig Ghru, over to the top of Lurchers, then down the gulley. Cut across the entrance of Lochan and Sneachda and came out back at the carpark

Perfect- sun and no wind, but as I did this late afternoon Lurchers Gully was in shadow when I reached it.

Snow on the higher areas was wind scoured. The surface in some areas had a packed powder consistency, other areas were icy and crusty. In Lurchers there was deep powder that became sinkier as the altitude dropped.
There was complete cover all the way. A few rocks were sticking out in places but were easily avoided

Helen

h11lly at hotmail dot com

Ptarmigan to Marquis Well then to summit Cairngorm and descent down to top of Corrie Raibeirt. No tracks seen on descent. Return via same route to summit then down route of summit footpath.

very little visability all the time we were out, unlike the other party that reported a Sunday Cairngorm excursion. We were out and back by 2pm.

some good new snow on S - SW aspects with a little shallow soft slab- interspersed with icey patches. Breaking through the burn in places. Two boarders and one tourer in party. Hard work for boarders on return to summit as breakable crust.

Starav posse (gary, andy, cammy)

offpistescotland at tiscali dot co dot uk

Skinned up Cairn Gorm, Marquis Wells and South to Stac an Fharaidh over looking frozen Loch Avon. went up and down Coire Raibeirt and back over CG.

Mostly cloudy summit but occasional breathtaking views. Light winds.

Surprisingly thin and rocky. Hard base with a bit on top.

Clare, Sarah

james dot dalgarno at bt dot com

Ben Macdui
Walked from Car Park to Corrie Raibeirt. Then Corrie Domhain across to Macdui North top and summit. Return via Usiage Mhor.

Calm and sunny above the clouds. Oddly warm and spring-like but ground remains deeply frozen.

Once on the plateau its continous skiing except the usual 300m walk between Raibeirt and Domhain above the Stag Rocks. Corrie Rabiert had nice soft granular snow.
Hard refrozen snow, patches of ice widespread elsewhere.
Overall a very shallow snow pack, many stones showing but many miles & smiles achievable.

James ESTC

james dot dalgarno at bt dot com