•Glencoe Sledge Park

•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Half Term Begins

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

Rising freezing level on Saturday evening heralded a more widely soggy Sunday than anticipated, Monday should see less precipitation and slightly cooler. Glenshee and CairnGorm have the most snow / terrain and lifts open. Nevis is closed midweek.

Been out on the slopes - please send us your photos to the email address at the foot of this page.

A rather soggier start to Sunday even in the West than was expected, but on trail conditions remained reasonably good with machine packed snow softening, but more variable on less trafficked off piste areas. Where deeper cover extends to the the lower slopes such as at Glenshee and less exposed areas of CairnGorm, snow is undergoing consolidation with little visible change in cover.

However where cover was thinner, particularly on wind exposed slopes, thaw conditions are more obvious as areas of thin cover begin to melt. Fortunately the period of quite heavy rain at Glencoe this morning actually brought with it an improvement in the visibility, this lessened the damage from the milder damp air, as clagged in murk in rain causes much more thawing than the rain itself.

Unfortunately the Lecht had no such luck and remained well and truly in the gloom on Sunday, the very dreich day being bad news for the main side of the ski area where cover was thinner than the on the Buzzard side. At dusk main runs were complete, but thin / worn areas with very wet snow and thaw conditions are expected to continue overnight, so the main runs will have to be assessed AM.

At CairnGorm and Glenshee no impact on open terrain from the weather on Sunday and none is anticipated for Monday. All uplift bar the Ridge Poma is scheduled for CairnGorm on Monday and the Daylodge Poma run is the best route to the Cas Carpark.

In terms of snow cover, the East has fared best recently and with the persistence of winds from the SE quadrant it is Glenshee that has seen by far the most snowfall accumulate. While the soggy Sunday was not good for those who were there, with colder weather set to return, this will hopefully turn out to be a good base consolidation cycle rather than a serious thaw.

Further digging out and storm recovery work is required to get uplift running on Meall Odhar and push up the other side of the middle valley and onwards to Coire Fionn, but with the recent sustained drifting having now stopped, machines are making progress on getting uplift going on Meall Odhar. Coire Fionn should follow on quite quickly, but there is a good deal more storm recovery work required on the Glas Maol Poma, it will be longer.

On CairnGorm the Funicular should be going from opening on Monday, offering 1550ft of non-surface uplift vertical with a mix of green, blue and red terrain accessible from the train. While the Daylodge and West Wall Poma combo will provide an alternative route to the top station for advanced skiers and boarders.

At Glencoe, the cover has improved quite considerably on the top half of the Plateau area this past week, but the bottom of the Plateau did not really see any sustained gains and is now getting patchy again in the milder temperatures. For early intermediates / confident snowplough turners, the Coire Pollach Tow serving the loop round via the Cafe from Old Mugs Alley is much better. Overall though Glencoe is best suited to more advanced riders at present as the best riding by far is on the upper mountain, while a bluebird day is not expected, some forecasts at least hint at more chance of clearance further up the hill on Monday..

Nevis Range opened the Alpha Button and the Goose T-bar on Sunday and enjoyed reasonable visibility this weekend vs everywhere else! Yorkies is in good shape off Alpha and the Home Run / Rabbit Run provide a return from the Goose to outside the Top Station. Nevis will be closed for snowsports mid-week, reviewing Wednesday for a Thursday reopening.

:: 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, the sledge park is always quietest before 11.30am. Last chair down scheduled for 4pm.

:: England Club Fields

There has been some new snow over the past few days at both Weardale and Yad Moss, but not yet sufficient to open and the freezing level looks like going above the tops again by Saturday.

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/ .

:: Mountain Weather

At 6pm in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut (850m) the temperature was +0.5°c with the wind at a mean of 8 gusting 20mph. At the Top of the Access (671m) it was +2.2°c. At Base level (366m) it was +4.7°c with a SE breeze at 5 gusting 11mph.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -0.1°c. The Met Office station was reporting a South wind at 19 gusting 30mph. At the CIC Hut (680m) it was +3.1°c. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +6.1°c.

In the East the Met Office Summit AWS on CairnGorm reported -1.2°c, while the Heriot Watt AWS reported a SSE wind at a mean of 30 gusting 36mph. At Aviemore the temperature at 6pm was +6.9°c.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS reported+1.2°c with a Southerly at 31 gusting 40mph.

:: Half Term Begins

Some locations are now on half term. Monday to Wednesday of the new week will be busier than usual weekdays, Thursday probably about normal, before the busiest half term period from Friday to the following Wednesday, when several councils local to the ski areas have long weekends that coincide with the peak week for English Half Term.

All areas will be busier and particularly on the equipment hire front. If you have your own equipment, bring it is the best advice that can be given! Safely fitting equipment takes time. If you need to hire and hiring off-site on route to the mountain can work for you, that means you are ready to go when you hit the mountain.

If you need to hire on the mountain, book equipment hire in advance, that allows equipment to be pre-setup, significantly speeding up the process in the morning.

Carparks at Glenshee and CairnGorm are likely to reach capacity on peak days, on CairnGorm shuttle buses will operate from Coire na Ciste from around 9am. Please remember that there are currently no facilities at the Ciste Carpark.

With considerably more snow in the East, Glencoe is unlikely to have carpark issues over the next few days, but to keep things organised, larger 4wd vehicles please park in the top carpark above the Ticket Office. Only cars and small vans in the main carpark area, please DO NOT block either the top or bottom exit of the carpark lanes as sight seeing visitors and sledgers will be arriving and departing throughout the day!

Campervans wishing to stay overnight will find the most level areas around the permitter of the overflow carpark.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

On CairnGorm the Top Basin may just about get away with snow showers in precipitation if you stay up there on Monday, elsewhere it is unlikely you can stay in the snow zone during any showers, so bring the wet weather gear just in case!

Munro Level temperature looks to be around +1°c. Moderate SE winds, veering Southerly, generally around 15 gusting 20 to 30mph.

Tuesday will be similar with the freezing level just above Munro Level with showers falling as snow on higher terrain, but a sleet / rain mix lower down, but overall precipitation totals should not amount to very much. Slightly fresher SE wind, gusts to 35 to 40mph, but risk 50mph on and downslope of the Cairngorm Plateau areas.

Confidence in forecast detail mid-week is very low, yesterday for Wednesday at the 850hpa level temperature in the Central Highlands, the GFS ensembles have a 9.4°c spread, the Met Office MOGREPS has a 8.4°c spread, while the ECMWF EPS has a 9.4°c spread. The fact is that spread has not reduced that much, still between 5 to 7°c for Wednesday at update.

The exact depth and thus track of a low pressure remains uncertain, slight change in track having a fairly big consequence on temperature experienced at the ski areas and also strength of the wind. If you are planning a Wednesday or Thursday slide, keep a close eye on the forecasts. At this stage the balance of the model data points to slightly cooler conditions day by day with a moderate East turning NE wind through Wednesday into Thursday. Showers increasingly of snow to lower levels of the snowsports areas.

By the end of the week there is greater confidence in noticeably colder air digging in from either the North or NE, with the freezing level below the lower slopes and possibly lowering to the surface by Friday afternoon. Exact wind direction will determine where sees the most snowfall, but the focus for heavier snow is expected to switch to the Northern Cairngorms, with showers reaching the Southern Cairngorms.

:: Webcams and Weather Stations

Lowther Hill: Leadhills webcam is online (24/7).

GLENCOE: All mountain webcams online and the first updated images are from the Top of the Access Chair are around 7am, other cams come on by 7.30am. Sledge Park camera streams overnight. The mid mountain weather station wind direction is not working, other data valid.