The Day the Rains Came.
31st December 2024
(Above) The River Gynack in Kingussie vs the bridge that carries the main Inverness to Perth rail line.
(Above) Same situation as viewed from the nearby level crossing. Major disruption on this line today not surprisingly.
The mild and very wet overhead conditions didn’t augur well for a day on the hill in search of snow!
(Above) ‘Best laid plans’ etc. Had planned to venture into Coire nan Gamhna (a lovely wee coire) to check out the NW-facing aspects for new snow that had been blown in on the SE (arrows) airflow. Purple denotes where snow was *anticipated* when planning my day last night. The reality…..below:
(Above) The (bouldery) NW-facing backwall of Coire nan Gamhna – immediately above the line of the burn. Yep, not a trace of snow, new or old! All new was snow washed away during the sustained downpour.
(Above) Raeburn’s Gully, Pinnacle Buttress and the Post Face of Coire Ardair during a lull in the torrential rain. Full-on cascades in all principal gully lines.
(Above) A peek into Easy Gully.
(Above) The Window and crags of the Inner Coire of Coire Ardair.
(Above) Came across a group from Bristol University Mountaineering Club ‘skinny dipping’ in Lochan a Choire at the top end of Coire Ardair. Endeavouring to get wet what (few?) parts of their bodies had remained dry after the torrential walk-in. Afterwards their aspiration was to gear up for an ascent of The Window then transit over Stob Poite Coire Ardair towards Carn Liath. Impressive. These West Country students are made of stern stuff!
(Above) Debris from a recent Size 1.5 full depth avalanche on a SE aspect in Coire Chriochairein left of centre. The crownwall was approx 50cm high and 10-15m wide, running out 100m. The debris was composed entirely of old snow and slid sometime overnight during the very wet and mild conditions.
Significantly more wintry weather in prospect for New Year’s Day. Summit temperatures projected to fall to -8 degrees C. by the end of the day. Some snowfall in the forecast, too, with some snow showers on SW winds overnight but with an abrupt wind shift to NE in the early hours. New windslab in a few places but tending to be thin with any slightly deeper accumulations above 850m. A dusting of snow elsewhere. The few remaining older snow patches will eventually refreeze and become hard or very crusty.
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Keith Horner
31st December 2024 5:48 pm
The last few weeks seem to have been an exceptionally long and consistently wet and mild period of weather – must be quite unusual to see the cliffs so teaming with cascades at this time of year? Hopefully the forecasted colder weather will bring a return to more amenable winter mountaineering conditions in the New Year.
meagaidhadmin
31st December 2024 7:40 pm
Yes, exceptionally mild.
An incursion of cold air from the north (at least for a time) will be a welcome change.