Patchy at best…
8th March 2025
Little change today, except arguably further snow loss in the light rain overnight.
Still, a pleasant day on the hill with summit temperatures of 4.5 degrees Celsius at 1128 metres AMSL on Creag Meagaidh. The greatest amounts of snow are on North through East to South-East slopes above 850 metres, particularly in steep areas. Unsurprisingly the northerly slopes of Creag Meagaidh appeared to have some larger snowfields, stretching as far as the visibility allowed at least.
There are some crags here above Lochan Uaine that in a decent snow year would all but be obliterated in drifting snow. They were of course obvious today in the brief clearings in the cloud. I can say with some confidence that there is little chance of straying into giving climbing conditions information. There was a distinct absence of snow with just faint vestiges indicating where aprons may develop under winter conditions.
The freezing level was well above the highest summits, and will remain there for the next 24 hours or so. Although, there is a hint of colder conditions to come next week.
Rockfall is a lingering hazard in the mild conditions. The avalanche hazard is Low.
The snowpack is moist, generally well bonded and isothermal – that is to say it is zero degrees Celsius all the way to the ground (at least at our survey site today). The lower limit of -20 degrees on my thermometer seemed a little overkill today!
Todays footwear. The moist snow was fine in running shoes on the flat patches that were negotiated on the plateau at least. The snow is likely to stay soft tomorrow after which it will become very firm! A switch back to mountaineering boots may be required yet…
Snow at the top of ‘Cinderella’. Cornices have generally melted back to vertical or semi recumbent positions although some ragged slightly suspicious ones remain. They will present a lingering threat of collapse.
Looking north from above ‘The Window’ (situated bottom centre in the narrow gully). In the centre are “the W’s” and the Winter ML navigation graveyard such are the contours in this area. Beyond is Carn Dearg on the flanks of Loch Roy Corrie. Curiously ‘dearg’ means red which is counter intuitive for a crag comprised of Psammite, which is grey/brown. However, look closely and you will see hints of red in the image. Possibly from pegmatites and leucogranites and the felsite dyke that runs straight through the summit. A small summit compared to its neighbours, but of no small geological interest. The snow patches here probably extend down to 850 metres, as my Senior Forecaster colleague described yesterday, using the term circa 850 metres. As a junior, inevitably displaying some deference, I feel duty bound to avoid the Latin preposition and just say “around” or “approximately”. But the use of this term demonstrated, for me at least, the joy of lexicon and its link to memory. Reading “circa” elicited long forgotten memories of foreboding alpine north face’s, and trying to make one of The Alpine Club guidebook descriptions fit the route ahead. A unexpected and unlikely diversion from yesterday’s avalanche report.
The cliffs of Coire Ardair. ‘Raeburns Gully’ (left) and ‘Easy Gully’ (right). My journey today was accompanied by the sound of volleys of rockfall. Some readers will be familiar with the “white goods” or “household tech” descriptions for rockfall. There were no fridge or widescreen TV sized blocks but I did witness one particular volley down the line of ‘The Pumpkin’ – microwaves, and a quantity of Alexa’s or Apple HomePod type things (not an endorsement, other products are available).
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