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Fine warm weather today and the snow on Tower
Ridge was a little soft. Green Gully was not in good shape
today according to those who tried it. The forecast for Saturday
looks rather mild and wet, so the gullies might not be so
good.
Another spring-like day today. Some teams out
on Aonach Mor East Face reported slightly better conditions.
Certainly this morning was a chilly start to the day. My crystal
ball suggests some drier and a little colder weather towards
the weekend. There is a large high pressure system centred
over Scandinavia and it may pull in cooler easterlies. If
this happens then good old Ben Nevis will be back in shape
once more. At the moment the ridges are fine and the weather
is balmy! Must get back out in the garden to trim the Firethorn
hedge.
A fine day, but mild. Teams out on Tower ridge
today reported soft snow, but okay for climbing. The same
team climbed Point Five Gully yesterday, but said it was badly
unprotected as the quality of the ice and snow was not too
great. A team retreated off of the first pitch of Indicator
Wall for the same reason. Lots of soft heavy snow falling
down the gullies, so it is not a wise move to climb beneath
any sort of large cornice for too long. Freezing level is
set to rise on Saturday with a possible small drop on Sunday.
Lots of snow, but a freeze is needed.
Another cool and sunny day today. We did Tower
Ridge yesterday. Thanks to the teams who shared trail blazing
all the way up! Ben Nevis has piles of new unconsolidated
snow from the foot of Tower Ridge upwards in all locations.
A mild spell is required to bed down the snow pack before
a refreeze. The forecast looks reasonably dry until the end
of the month, but no really cold weather, but maybe enough
to freeze on the mountains overnight. I could see plenty of
ice on Point Five Gully and also Indicator Wall, but also
lots of cruddy snow and ice in between and on the approaches.
These routes are not great at present. Aonach Mor has some
good climbing, but as with all areas at the moment, sensible
approach work and choice of route will make your days out
a lot happier and free of avalanche hazards.
Another fine day with wintry showers on the
hills. The wind is forecast to go north and this will bring
a drier, colder airstream to Fort William, which is just what
we need. Tuesday and Wednesday look good if you can get some
time off work! At the moment we have loads of snow and the
back end of the winter is looking good, but who knows what
is around the corner? This week looks reasonable on the forecast
with slightly higher temperatures mid-week and night-time
temps on the tops at freezing point. Bunkhouse space this
week at Calluna. Plenty still to climb.
21st March
 Another
rugged day out on Aonach Mor! Lots of new snow loading the
gullies and open slopes. Giving Easy Gully a clear berth just
now might be beneficial to your continued well-being. We abseiled
into The Split. This involved roping down Left Twin and crossing
over to the chimney on The Split. The slopes above Left Twin
released about three times today whilst we were climbing The
Split. This route is protected from avalanche, but the exit
involves a quick shuffle over to the good anchors above Left
Twin. It is possible to get a good high runner before moving
over the open slope to safer ground. One team roped in and
climbed Typhoon, which was in hard nick with not much ice
or frozen turf. Another team roped into The Guardian and climbed
back out up this safe route. The only really safe (ish) options
in the current conditions will be to rope down a route on
a buttress and climb back out. More cold weather to come.
A fine day today so far. some unsettled weather
coming over the weekend before a return to much colder weather
from Monday onwards. There are still some spare places at
the CIC Hut next week, so if you fancy making the most of
the forecast colder weather please get in touch ASAP. The
details below are copied from Metcheck, a link to which is
show above.
Stormy Times Ahead!
Added [Wednesday March 17 2004 : 11:47:37 AM]
An intense area of low pressure is developing just in time
for this weekend. Initially, the worst of the gale, if not
storm force winds will be across Scotland and Northern Ireland,
but as the low pressure area becomes established, secondary
low's will spin around the outside, tightening the isobars
further inland, increasing the risk of storm force winds across
England and Wales.
We're currently keeping a close eye on Friday afternoon and
Friday evening as a secondary low quickly pushes east across
the midlands and southern England. Winds will no doubt be
strong gusting to severe gale, possibly storm force around
some exposed coasts and hills. Gusts of 70mph are more than
likely.
Accompanied with this will be a major drop in temperature,
back into single figures along with heavy bands of rain, possibly
sleet or snow across the north later in the weekend, especially
over hills and mountains.
Hold onto your hats, it's going to be a bumpy ride!
Martin Chuter CNS
 I
climbed Green Gully today in fairly soft conditions. Plenty
of ice and snow remains on Ben Nevis and more snow and colder
weather is forecast. Winter is not yet over folks!
 Today
it is raining and windy and not very nice. Lord only knows
what it is like up the hill. I went to the cosy confines of
the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven, Big Softee!
 Very
good conditions today on the West Face of Aonach Mor. Loads
of good ice in the gullies around Golden Oldy. Great Gully
on Buachaille Etive Mor has a lot of good ice in as well,
although this may start to melt out soon if the threatened
poor weather comes in. Strong winds and rain are forecast
for the start of the week.
Very very windy today. The Gondola at Aonach
Mor was not working for very long, but some hardy folk were
still out climbing on Ben Nevis. It's starting to snow very
slightly this evening. Tomorrow suggests a slight reduction
in the wind strength, but picking up again on Sunday with
rain coming in later and on Monday. Climbing conditions are
still good on all routes reported previously.
 A
boisterous sort of day with strong winds out of the east and
overcast. Not much snow falling, but cold. I was on the Isle
of Skye today on business and the amount of snow on the Black
Cuillin looked worth a prod, with plenty of extensive snow
high up and one or two easy gullies appeared to be good for
a climb at the moment. The hills around Glen Shiel also appeared
to be holding some snow and ice on their northern flanks.
The Gondola at Aonach Mor was off this morning due to the
strength of the wind.
Still great weather and conditions up north.
We have some space at the bunkhouse tonight and Thursday,
but are full at the weekend. The forecast looks set to go
wetter and milder at the weekend.
 The
brilliant weather is continuing and the conditions are pretty
good. A few troublesome clouds today towards the east, but
generally sunscreen and shades weather! More reports from
Creag Meagaidh suggest good conditions on a number of routes.
I was on the West Face of Aonach Mor climbing on the ice smears
in the gully, Soldier's Gully, left (north) of Golden Oldy
today and it was very solid with pitches of good grade III+.
As usual Point Five Gully has been climbed and reported as
very good, but still thin.
"Wall to wall" sunshine with a hard
overnight frost, not a cloud in the sky. Plenty of reasons
to head north on Ben Nevis, Aonach Mor and Creag Meagaidh.
I have a course up at the CIC Hut this week, so on-hand reports
will filter down as the week progresses. Yesterday groups
on the West Face of Aonach Mor found lots of ice in the various
gullies in between the ridges.
Generally the lower pitches on routes at Creag
Meagaidh were not well frozen and a little thin in places
, although high up it is excellent . Some loose rocks flying
around in places. Thanks Sean for the report on Meagaidh.
Apparently there are a number of .."des res"...snow
holes in place at the Creag Meagaidh .."Window"..area
if you wish to spend a night close to the cliffs in order
to make the most of over-night frosts. With the current full
moon a little bit of night-time cragging might make for something
a little different! Arrive early for the snow holes, especially
Wednesday's and Thursday's when most outdoor centres seem
keen on spending a night out!
Another belting day today and the two-week forecast
suggests more winter to come with very few mild winds and
some more snow. This is all good for the latter part of the
winter and more of the classic V's should start to make up/down
to a grade closer to normal. One team on Morwind (Aonach Mor)
today reported good frozen turf.
 Creag
Meagaidh is in good nick by all accounts with plenty of action
on the major classics today. Aonach Mor was very good also.
A fair bit of new snow has fallen, but this should further
improve the climbing conditions as the colder weather approaches.
The good ice and snow is still taking tools well under the
covering of fresh stuff and the turf is still solid. The tops
of the routes on Aonach Mor have some cruddy snow and soft
cornice. We abseiled into The Guardian today via the big gully
north of Stirling Bridge. Sorry to Helen who got the brunt
of a soft cornice I knocked down. It is not necessary to abseil
in, just that we wanted to see what the cornice was like to
start with! Route preparation, you know what I mean. Just
try and make sure you don't rope down on top of someone, as
it is very anti-social, and potentially dangerous. Good to
see you again Andy, the word ..."off"...undoubtedly
had at least two ff's in it today:-) At least the cornice
was marginally easier for you once I had groomed it a wee
bitty.
Gargoyle Wall on No 3 Gully Buttress, Ben Nevis
saw an ascent today. It is said to be a very good route and
the SMC guidebook diagram misleading in some places according
to the team who climbed it!
A fair bit more snow on the west coast above
900 metres. All the climbs which were in conditions last week
are still okay and if it turns colder as forecast it should
be good. Bring your sunglasses! We did Central Gully L&R
today on Creag Coire na Ciste, plus No 2 Gully Buttress, all
okay, but no pictures to prove it as I had the SLR out shooting
slides of the great Paramo kit we are using these days. We
have a few spaces left next week at the bunkhouse.
Raining today in Fort William for a change!
Snowing on the mountains and the forecast is for drier and
colder weather to return next week. Should be good and I still
have some space at the CIC Hut or Calluna. Last Saturday on
Creag Meagaidh (Staghorn Gully first half, The Pumpkin LH
variant gully and the conditions weren't thin at all. They
were FANTASTIC. This note from someone who actually climbed
in the corrie!
 Another
good day out on Ben Nevis and much less crowded than the weekend.
Some teams visited Creag Meagaidh today and climbed Last Post,
so it looks like the ice is forming better there than in recent
weeks. Still lean but climbable. The unsettled weather will
come in on Wednesday, but not last too long according to the
forecast. We may even have some snow on the west coast for
a change. By the way I managed to get the walkie-talkie working
which I found last week, but it is still lonely and needs
another one to communicate with. No response on Ben Nevis
today!
I still have places on the CIC Hut course, either
guided or unguided 7/11th and 21/25th March. Email to ask
for details.
Last Saturday on Creag Meagaidh (Staghorn Gully
first half, The Pumpkin LH variant gully and the conditions
weren't thin at all. They were FANTASTIC. This note from someone
who actually climbed in the corrie!
Here you will find an archive of other years
winter climbing conditions.
Back to top |
Great
day on Aonach Mor East Face, but steer clear of big open snow
slopes which are deathly dodgy at the moment. We abseiled
into The Guardian off a big block of granite three metres
over the top, after 'grooming' the considerable cornice from
above. This type of route preparation is fine so long as nobody
is climbing up from below. The route was in reasonable shape,
but the stack of new snow is insulating the turf which is
not well frozen generally. Teams on Morwind reported similar
conditions. In the last 48 hours a lot of new snow has fallen,
so gully climbs and open snow slopes at the foot of routes
are seriously threatened by avalanche at the moment. Short
ridges and buttress climbs are the order of the day for a
while. The weather is forecast to go cold into Sunday, Monday
and Tuesday, and this amount of new snow will hopefully keep
the winter going for some time to come. how often have I said
that in the past, only to be hit by another set of mild weather
patterns? Still worth a visit and the ski-ing should be good
as well. Places at the CIC Hut still available from Sunday
onwards. Our bunkhouse has beds as well if you fancy a visit.
