Stellar day
13th February 2026
The Creag Meagaidh car park was rammed again today no doubt due to the continuing good climbing conditions and the prospect of a cold blue sky day. And it didn’t disappoint. Many teams of climbers on the the path and the crags at the top end of Coire Ardair were metaphorically draped with ropes. Noticed a few queues (again) on some routes.
Having had a few days off and with the weather being so good I thought it prudent to do a high level tour to get a flavour of snow conditions in our parish. Fast high level travel today on crunchy snow-ice and rime. Ascents to the plateau – above about 800m – necessitate the use of crampons and ice axe on steepish terrain at the moment.
Recently, probably because of queueing for climbs, quite a number of teams have opted for a late start and late after-dark finish. Just be aware that some very wintry weather (6 to 9hrs of heavy snowfall) is in prospect just outside our official avalanche forecast period on Saturday so you may want to re-schedule in order to avoid a terrible epic getting off the hill after dusk. Just sayin’.
(Above) The Carn Liath massif as viewed from the east. Carn Liath summit far left.
(Above) The Big Picture. Sron a Ghoire et al with the Post Face of Coire Ardair and The Window on the far right.
(Above) The crown jewels. Raeburn’s Gully, The Pinnacle, Easy Gully and the Post Face of Coire Ardair.
(Above) At the rim of the broad amphitheatre of Coire a Chriochairein. Drifting hadn’t commenced at this time but small pillows of soft windslab were in place just a few metres under the coire rim but barely constituted a hazard.
(Above) The NNE-facing crags above the Inner Coire of Coire Ardair. ‘Cinderella’ is the long slightly leftward slanting gully just right of centre.
(Above) Lone hillwalker ascending to the plateau. A view across the top end of the Inner Coire towards Mad Meg’s cairn (centre) and Creag Meagaidh summit (far right). ‘Cinderella’ is the large gully on the far left.
(Above) The view west from Stob Poite Coire Ardair. Coire na h-Uamha prominent mid-distance and the summit of the East Ridge of Beinn a Chaorainn just visible. Some snow on the move here. Just before midday the wind freshened and induced a bit of drifting though most of the airborne snow seemed to just sublimate into the atmosphere.
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