‘Wee mental Davy’ has left the building.
5th April 2026
Storm Dave passed through and finally exited the area in the early hours but certainly left his mark. 15cm of fresh snow today on the main Coire Ardair footpath from 450m, with deeper drifts in places. Shower activity after Storm Dave was pretty feisty too bringing more snow, drifting on a strong turbulent airflow and very poor visibility. There was some avalanche activity in Coire Dubh some time this morning and needless to say snow stability on all lee slopes above 850m was and remains poor.
(Above) L to R: Coire nan Gall and Coire Dubh both with ENE to ESE aspects above 750m. Cornice triggered dry slab avalanche debris visible in the somewhat over-illuminated section of the coire. Was sunny driving in to ‘Meggie this morning but it didn’t last.
(Above) Puist Coire Ardair, Sron a Ghoire with the Post Face of Coire Ardair partly obscured by cloud.
(Above) The main path in Coire Ardair. Partly scoured here but deeper snow elsewhere.
(Above) Parting shot of Pinnacle Buttress and the Post Face during a brief clearing.
This will be the final blog posting of the 2025/26 winter season. Many thanks to those of you who have followed the blog and made responses. Thought I’d leave you with a taste of the best part of what’s been quite a good winter season. Hasn’t broken records but was certainly better that last year!
Remember the awesome climbing conditions in February? The best since 2013?
(Above) 14th February. Looking across to the Creag Meagaidh area from Sgor Gaoith 50km away in the Glenfeshie hills.
(Above) Smith’s Gully in Coire Ardair. 19th February. Climber enjoying prime conditions (with a garnish of spindrift!) Photo courtesy of UKC
‘Wee mental Davy’ – For those not familiar with Scottish humour this explains all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezqZmwQLAaI
Comments on this post
Got something to say? Leave a comment
Colin
5th April 2026 8:33 pm
Thanks for all of your posts. Both informative and interesting. Until next winter!
meagaidhadmin
5th April 2026 8:43 pm
Hey, thanks, Colin.
Craig Shaw
5th April 2026 11:28 pm
Thank you for yours posts , photos and knowledge this season . Much more wintery than the last few .
KEITH HORNER
6th April 2026 7:11 pm
Thanks to you and your colleagues for another season of excellent and informative reporting and blog posts. A bit of a rollercoaster winter which seems to be unwilling to say goodbye – long periods of south-easterly airflow, many days of storm to gale force winds, erratic snowfall patterns, clear glens with poor summit visibility and frequent significant temperature spikes – all combining to make avalanche forecasting quite challenging no doubt. And great to see Meggie getting the winter climbing attention it deserves – if these wintry conditions persist, I wonder if there is there any record of routes being climbed in May….?
meagaidhadmin
6th April 2026 8:17 pm
Latest recorded ascent of Smiths Gully I can find is 20th April 2013 – another stellar climbing season for ‘Meggie.
Many thanks for following and supporting the blog again this year, Keith. Your comments are always well judged and of excellent value.