Crust!
29th December 2023
(Above) L to R Coire nan Gall and Coire Dubh this morning in hazy cloud.
(Above) A view west towards Sron a Ghoire and a glimpse of the Post Face of Coire Ardair.
Good snow cover! But the kicker is that it is crusty from 350m (where snow cover starts) all the way to summits. Trail-breaking is tiring and even more so when you encounter a deeper (crust covered) drift. Skiing not recommended.
(Above) The Post Face of Coire Ardair. There’s a cone of snowy debris immediately below Centre Post but I couldn’t spot a crownwall so I’m attributing it to a small melt event low down in the gully, possibly emanating from the rocky area at the bottom end of Centre Post. Most likely occurred during the temperature spike on Thursday when the freezing level went up to summits for a time. For those interested in a daunder up Coire Ardair on Saturday, a path has been beaten all the way to the loch, which, compared to anywhere else on our patch, allows for relatively fast foot passage.
(Above) Coire Chriochairein under a snowy mantle. Minor avalanche debris also noted here, part way down the wide gully to the left of the rocky tower. Possibly cornice triggered but again no crownwall so likely occurred on Thursday. Most of the lee slopes – pictured above – had some new windslab but only above 900m though not deep or extensive.
A day of two halves tomorrow, Saturday. Will be cold and dry with light winds overnight Friday into Saturday then a change to much stronger winds from a different direction (ESE) commencing in the morning. Expecting to see the main focus of hazard to transition from East-facing to any aspect with West on it from around midday, but again only above 900m.
The hazard ‘rose’ graphic shows Moderate on most aspects as we can’t yet show a timeline of hazard change over the course of a day, but there’ll definitely be a palpable spatial change in where we’re expecting weaker windslab early morning to late afternoon. (These stronger winds are expected to scour Friday’s NE to E to SE-facing lee slopes down to a crust by the end of the day.)
(Above) Beinn a Chaorainn from Luiblea today.
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