General Situation // Scottish Ski & Winter Activity Report // Winterhighland

Wind speeds fell away for Sunday and just a gentle breeze is being reported by the summit weather stations this evening, that lull in wind is expected to continue into Monday morning, before wind speeds and renewed hill snow begin to push in later into the afternoon. Away from the Lecht the visibility also improved markedly, with both Glenshee and CairnGorm catching some sunny interludes and things eventually brightened up at Glencoe later in the day.

The best shot at better visibility for Glenshee will be first thing before hill snow sets in once again, while Glencoe and CairnGorm it is probably mid to late morning, but wind will be the lightest first thing.

Overall because of the persistence of wind from the SE quadrant, Glenshee has by some distance amassed the most falling snow, while CairnGorm has gained masses of windblown snow from the sustained high winds over the Plateau.

A rise in the freezing level later Saturday has persisted through Sunday and it should remain similar until Monday afternoon when the temperature will drop again. This means all the East Coast access roads should stay open overnight as lower level drifting has stopped for the time being. At update the A939 Lecht Pass, A93 Cairnwell Pass and CairnGorm ski road were open and clear.

Lower and mid elevation terrain has seen fluctuating temperatures so were softening machine groomed / skier packed snow, becoming slightly granular in places, but less trafficked areas were a bit sticky at lower levels. Higher up snow remains fresh and loose. Should be great riding on the groomers in the morning and where pisted or well backed by skies will start to crunch up and get even better as Monday goes on. But away from the heavily skied / pisted snow, the snowpack will skin over giving a breakable crust in places which may be a factor for touring on Tuesday.

Glenshee got the Cairnwell Chairlift open at lunchtime, with both the Tiger and Thunder Bowl seeing action, as well as relieving pressure of the Cairnwell T-bar for accessing the RaceTracks. Prior to that, the queues were getting pretty hefty with the carparks overflowing shortly after 10am! Things will be much quieter during the week and there is fresh snow forecast to freshen things up.

With Sunnyside pretty much all over cover outside the fences, the rise in temperature is consolidating the base, rather than impacting cover even on the lower slopes at Glenshee. Whereas the Lecht has stayed stubbornly in the damp clag this weekend, and has seen a bit more snowloss. Main runs are complete and still full width between the fences, but some thin / worn areas are developing, particularly on the steeper pitches of the main runs.

The novice areas at the three Eastern Areas are in good shape, for first timers the Lecht or CairnGorm are currently best with the magic carpets, but Glenshee has more options for gradual progression terrain.

If you are looking for max vertical with minimal use of surface uplift then CairnGorm is looking the pick for Monday as there is not anticipated to be any issues with the funicular tunnel Monday AM. The Daylodge Poma run is the best route to the Cas Carpark as its fences have loaded up in the South Easterly cross winds, while parts of the Carpark Run have been scoured and the thin cover was suffering in places from heavy ski traffic in milder temperatures on Sunday afternoon. SAIS reported plus 6°c in the Cas Carpark this afternoon.

Glencoe is best suited to more advanced riders at present as the best riding by far is on the upper mountain. However most uplift with the exception of the Wall T-bar can run, with the Rannoch Button making its season debut on Saturday on the upper mountain. The Plateau cover is fairly decent at the top, but rather fizzles out on the lower quarter, also some of the better snow is on the wrong side of the fence lines on some of the Plateau runs due to the persistent SE wind. As SE winds look likely pick up again this week, Glencoe maybe the safer bet for wind, but not for visibility, if wind turns more East than SE then Glencoe should hopefully see less clag than last week!

All facilities at Nevis Range have been closed since Monday 5th January, including the base area. There is no lift assisted access to Aonach Mor for tourers or winter climbers at this time.

:: Glencoe Sledge Park

The Sledge Park at the Plateau Cafe is in excellent condition! It is advisable to arrive before 2pm at the latest for sledging to get a decent amount of time on the hill. First chair up at 9am, last chair up at 3.45pm and last chair down at 4pm. Sledgers keep in mind, the Access Chair will be busier at the end of weekend days with snowsports underway, much quieter during the week, if you can take little ones then.

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:: England Club Fields

Weardale was able to operate on Wednesday and Friday. At Raise the wind direction unfortunately scoured the Poma slope!

For both Weardale and Allenheads, you need to join the club with a season pass, these are still available for both at this time.

Please check club access rules / availability if not a club member / pass holder.

Weardale: https: //skiweardale.com/ .
Allenheads: http://ski-allenheads.co.uk/ .
Yad Moss: https: //yadmoss.co.uk/ .
Raise: https: //www.ldscsnowski.co.uk/ .

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:: Mountain Weather

At 6pm in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut (850m) the temperature was -0.1°c, wind at 6 gusting 12mph. At the Top of the Access (671m) it was also +0.7°c. At Base level (366m) it was +2.3°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -1.2°c. The Met Office station was reporting a South East wind at 19 gusting 27mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +2.1°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +4.2°c.

In the East the Met Office Summit AWS on CairnGorm reported -2.0°c, with a Southerly at a mean of 6 gusting 12mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6pm was +3.8°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS (3061ft /934m) reported -0.1°c with a South Easterly at a mean of 9 gusting 14mph.

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:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

Over the coming days a similar pattern to pre Storm Chandra looks likely to persist, FL bouncing around between slightly below and slightly above the lower slopes, wind generally from the SE quadrant and speeds fluctuating, though perhaps direction will settle to closer to East than SE as the week goes on.

The lull in wind this evening will continue into Monday morning, and it could well be that Monday AM has the least wind of the week ahead. Wind speeds will begin to pick up after lunchtime and as they do, air temperature will drop back with the FL lowering back below the lower slopes. Around -1°c at Munro Level AM, but around -3°c at dusk on Monday. SE winds will be around 10 to 20mph AM, perhaps light and variable for a time in the West, but speeds will pick up in the afternoon to be around 30 to 40 gusting 50 to 60mph by early evening.

More organised snow looks set to push into the SE Highlands during Monday and 15 to 20cm of snow is possible in the SE Cairngorms through Monday and Tuesday.

SE winds are also expected to strengthen further overnight and Tuesday could see gusts to between 60 and 70mph on the Cairngorm Plateau and northern downslopes. Whiteout conditions are expected at height. More generally 35 to 40 gusting 50mph around Munro Level. A colder day than the weekend on Tuesday, with Munro Level temperature ranging from -3 to -4°c at the freezing level around or a bit below 1500ft. Widely overcast with varying visibility in the West, all areas seeing some new snowfall, but snow more persistent in the Cairngorms and heaviest towards the SE sector.

Mixed signals at this stage whether Wednesday or Thursday is likely to be the calmer day, with more fresh snow to start the week, keep eyes peeled on the forecasts for picking the day for a mid-week slide!

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:: Webcams and Weather Stations

Lowther Hill: Leadhills webcam is online (24/7). A power cut affected the camera, it is back online, but some fogging of the lens was apparent, this is now improving and it looks like the camera will clear up itself before we can revisit it.

GLENCOE: All mountain webcams online and the first updated images are from the Top of the Access Chair shortly after 7am, other cams come on by 7.45am. The mid mountain weather station wind direction is not working, other data valid.

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