Creag Meagaidh: gone to the dogs (for some).
28th February 2026
Very full car park this morning in part due to the prospect of sparkling weather but also because a contingent of SARDA (Search and Rescue Dog Association) members were at ‘Meggie for a training day. Plenty of winter mountaineers ventured out, as well as several teams of climbers out for some steeper winter sport in upper Coire Ardair.
Good stability all round today. A little snow in the forecast as well as a rise in freezing level later in the morning when the precip will fall as a little rain. Some limited wet snow instability anticipated on NW through N to NE aspects but this is likely to be localised and confined to locations above 950m. We have quite a few old cornices at the moment -refrozen and stable-looking today – but these will weaken a little later in the day.
(Above) The Big Picture. Looking west towards Sron a Ghoire, the Post Face of Coire Ardair and The Window. Effective snow line now about 850m – lower in some gullies and a few favoured coires – but with more complete cover above this altitude on plateau areas.
(Above) Sneak-peek at Beinn a Chaorainn this morning before the high cloud appeared. East Ridge in profile on the right: looking snowless on its S aspect for more than half of its length but probably with ribbons of old snow still on its N side?
(Above) The Pinnacle, Easy Gully and part of the Post Face of Coire Ardair. Easy Gully was complete today and I saw one or two folk wandering up it late morning. Firm or icy underfoot here. Raeburn’s Gully was broken at about 1/3rd of the way up but complete above that.
(Above) The NNE-facing crags of the Inner Coire with The Window on the far right of shot. Saw 3 teams of climbers on some of the routes here. Note the old cornice line: quite frozen today in this heavily shaded location but expected to soften and weaken later on Sunday.
(Above) The view down from the entrance to the Inner Coire towards Lochan a Choire, Coire nan Gamhna and the snow-laden N-facing slopes abutting Bellevue Buttress. Good snow cover down as low as 800m on this favoured aspect.
(Above) Inset of the previous shot. Dark, craggy Bellevue Buttress with a goodly amount of old cornice debris at its foot. Easier to make out the intact cornice line in this photo compared to the previous one. Again, N-facing and firm today but will be less so by the end of Sunday.
(Above) E and ESE aspects of Coire Chriochairein (with a Himalayan sky somewhat out of place at 1000m in the mid-latitudes and due wholly to an involuntary tweak of the circular polarising filter on my camera lens). Remnants of cornice here received a bit more sun today and like the other expected to weaken with the onset of milder, damper conditions.
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