Cornices!
2nd March 2025
(Above) The view west across Catlodge and the Ewen Macpherson memorial (top right corner) towards the Creag Meagaidh area, with the Post Face of Coire Ardair sunlit and prominent on the right. The monument is 20m high and dedicated to Ewen Macpherson (1805 – 1885), the 20th Chieftain of the Macphersons.
(Above) The Inner Coire of Coire Ardair with the high bealach, The Window, over on the right. Crust aplently here in the Inner Coire today. It varied a bit with altitude and aspect but covers what is now a fairly well bonded snowpack. Full car park again today in large part due to the presence of the search dog people, SARDA, holding a training event on our patch. A goodly number of walkers and winter mountaineers as well, too.
(Above) Cornices were a bit of a feature today, as here above ‘Cinderella’ in the Inner Coire. There’s a fair amount of cornice debris in a few gullies and selected crag aprons at the moment, some of it recent. Note the missing sections of the cornice in the photo above which probably fell down during yesterday’s milder spell. There’s also a cornice above ‘Diadem’, which is visible in the previous photo.
(Above) Large cornice in place above a steep ESE aspect in Coire a Chriochairein
(Above) The Pinnacle, Easy Gully and part of the Post Face. Easy Gully was quite busy with different parties of ascentionists today. Entirely possible there may be some minor full depth avalanches from Post Face during and immediately after the forecasted spell of wet & mild conditions. As you can see, there’s a fair amount of snow ‘hangin’ on in there’ on those steeply inclined gullies, benches and shelves on the Post Face some at quite low altitude. There was also a lobe of what looked like cornice debris (age unknown) in nearby Raeburn’s Gully. No visible crownwall at all above it so could, alternatively, have been from a full depth slide off the vertiginous face of The Pinnacle that looms above the gully. Difficult to assign with any accuracy.
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peter bannister
3rd March 2025 7:37 am
Great photos, especially the first vista.
meagaidhadmin
3rd March 2025 9:17 am
Got a bit lucky with timing, Peter; the sunlight over ‘Meggie disappeared very soon after that first shot!
Many thanks for your comment.