Thaw again
17th March 2024
It was more thaw than thrawn today in Coire Ardair. The mild temperatures overnight, combined with rain showers, have continued to deplete the snow pack at lower elevations. Higher in Coire Ardair the snow appears to be universally moist and slowly stabilising. The potential for lingering wet snow instabilities remain, particularly high up on scarp slopes and in gully tops close to the plateau rim.
Fleeting glimpses of the top of the crags supported the view that the vast majority of cornices has melted back to a semi recumbent position. This should mean that only a limited threat of collapse remains where there are steeper remnants of overhanging snow. It is always best to treat them with some suspicion, as alluded to in a recent blog.
Creag Meagaidh was somewhat quieter than yesterday, but a keen group from Glenalmond College were making fast progress in the coire with a view to making an ascent of Easy Gully, or gaining the plateau via the Inner Coire and The Window. Good to talk to them briefly about avalanche forecasting and Scottish Avalanche Information Service.
Stability will remain favourable, but won’t be truly stable until there is a proper refreeze. This should hopefully arrive by the middle of the week, with colder conditions forecast.
The Post Face – the classic ice lines in slow decay.
Coire a’Chriochairein with reasonable snow cover above 800-850 metres. The slopes on the left of the image are more of an East aspect and correspondingly hold more snow than those on the right of the images which are Southerly.
Group from Glenalmond College, Perth enjoying a spring like winter day in the Creag Meagaidh area. [Posted with permission, and encouragement!]. Hope you had a good day…
Rock of the day: I found this attractive hand specimen near the bench in Coire Ardair today. This is quite distinct from the Psammite which makes up the majority of Coire Ardair’s cliffs. I suspect that this is Lamprophyre. There are some small intrusions of Appinite – Lamprophyre indicated on the geological map up in the window…
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