January 2004 Conditions Reports

31st January 2004

A cold dry day today. We had another dusting of snow over Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis last night and it was quite pleasant until the wind picked up this afternoon. After a dry night, snow showers and a rising freezing level are expected during tomorrow, with the freezing level well above the summits by the end of the day. Look out for those avalanches!

30th January 2004
Much warmer on the west coast today with showers putting down more new snow on the tops. As a result of the rise in temperature a large avalanche was observed on Aonach Mor. Tonight and tomorrow will be cooler again though before a general warming up over Sunday and into next week.

29th January 2004

It was a quiet day on Aonach Mor today, only three other teams climbing on the E Face, so we abseiled down Left Twin and climbed back out by the same route. Morwind (III,4) was also climbed and both are in great condition with good snow ice. The wind was quite light to start but soon increased dramatically and, being from the west, started loading the scarp slopes quickly with all the soft snow on the plateau and causing frequent spin drift avalanches. We climbed out OK but the walk down wasn't pleasant. The temperature has risen by 4 or 5 degrees and the freezing level will rise to about 500m tomorrow. This will make all the fresh, wind blown snow quite unstable. Take care.

28th January 2004
More snow today in heavy showers with brilliant sunshine in between. The temperature barely rose above freezing in the town and the wind was blowing a bit stronger but still from the north. There is some ice climbing to be had on Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis (Left Twin, Forgotten Twin, Point Five Gully, Green Gully) and the buttress climbs are all covered in snow and rime. This prolonged cold spell will freeze the turf so that, hopefully, it will stay frozen during the next thaw and refreeze after which a lot more climbs will very quickly come into good condition.

27th January 2004

Another cold day today keeping the fresh snow soft and dry. This didn't help us on Tower Ridge, it was slow going stumbling on the covered rocks and all the hand holds were covered up. The only other team on Ben Nevis made a mass ascent of Ledge Route, the ridges being best just now. There are lots of areas of firm wind slab around that sheer easily and there is not much ice. Point Five Gully did look fully iced up and Central Gully on Creag Coire na Ciste looked good from a distance. However our car had 5cm fresh snow on it when we got down and it has been snowing steadily since so it might be best to stick to the buttresses a bit longer.

26th January 2004

We've had some fresh snow falling over the last three nights down to about 500m all along the west coast. Today the wind was light and from the NE so it was cold and dry. Ritchie, Mike and I climbed N Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor in perfect condition, dry snow on clean rock. Small bits of turf high up were frozen so a couple of hundred metres higher on Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor things will be looking good. Not much ice around though, stick to the ridges and buttresses for a while yet.

21st January 2004

Donald and Malcolm decided to go up Stob a'Choire Mheadhoin and Stob Coire Easain to the East of Loch Treig. Taking it nice and easy they got to the first summit in good weather, being able to see over to the west end of the Grey Corries but as they descended to the bealach the cloud came in and did not go until they got to the very top of Stob Coire Easain. They then headed down the North East Ridge towards Coire Lair, where they enjoyed a great 700 hundred foot sitting glissade off the ridge into the Coire floor. Just what you need at the end of the day, and they stayed dry all day, yes!

20th January 2004

Donald and Mark headed to the East Ridge of Beinn a' Chaorainn today, well wrapped up against the elements. They walked in to the start of the ridge in good time. As they got kitted up they could see into the back of the corrie where there was evidence of three full depth wet avalanches coming out of the gullies. On the south side of the corrie the debris was very big, covering an area of about 300 square metres, from a distance it looked pretty deep. Donald and Mark moved together most of the way up the ridge doing some mini pitches on some of the steeper steps. Conditions under foot were a bit wet but when they got onto the snow it was reasonably supportive and quite firm right at the very top. After a bite to eat below the cornice and out of the wind, Mark navigated them off the hill back to their dry gear in the car. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit drier.

19th January 2004
With the temperature at sea level being 10 degrees Celsius and raining, Donald and Mark were set for a wet day straight from the start. Walking into the CIC Hut on Ben Nevis they saw that the Allt a' Mhuilinn was thundering down from well past the hut, making the walk in even wetter than normal. If there are any keen paddlers out there, you might be interested in going to have a look. As they walked opposite Red Gully they could see evidence of a wet slap avalanche on the slopes to the right hand side of the gully and again at the base of North Castle Gully. They found a good slope to use on the flanks of Carn Dearg Meadhonach as it looked impossible to get across the Allt a' Mhuilinn at or above the CIC Hut. They made best use of another soggy day then squelched their way back to the comfort of the car. Hopefully there should be enough depth of snow over the mountains for some of it to last this thaw.

18th January 2004
What a difference a day makes. The temperature has risen overnight bringing rain and strong winds to most of the country. The snow pack is now very wet at most levels with cornices sagging ready to fall off. Donald, Richard and James saw evidence of avalanches on the way up the East Ridge of Sgorr Dhearg above Ballachulish. In wet conditions Richard and James moved together all the way up the top half of this scrambly ridge. They were met at the top of the ridge by some very strong winds and sleet from the South West, so goggles went on, rope came off and they headed to the main summit of Sgorr Dhearg along the famous horse shoe ridge. Getting to the top in gale force winds they didn't hang around too long before heading down via the North Ridge back to the car.

17th January 2004
After a good freeze last night the snow was a lot firmer and made life a lot easier to get to the base of the routes. Donald, James and Richard decided to join the crowds at Aonach Mor today, to make best use of the conditions and the weather, they headed over the back of the Nid Ridge and looked at self arrest, emergency shelters and basic rope work. The snow could not have been better for construction of shelters, especially cutting blocks for a variety of shelters. They met Stew Rogers of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service who had being trying to blast the cornices down at the top of the climbers col but they weren't going anywhere. The views from the top of the Nid were fantastic, easily seeing Mull, Rum, Skye and past Creag Meagaidh to the Cairngorms. The skiing must have been great judging by the numbers on the slopes, they joined the queue at the end of the day for the gondola down to round off a lovely day.

15th January 2004

Today Donald, Ken and Malcolm went in to do the ridge of Sron na Lairig. After making good time to the base of the route, they started up in waist deep snow and slowly made their way up. The snowpack was quite interesting, finding Category 4 avalanche conditions at full depth in places. We really need a good freeze to stabilise and bond the snowpack, it would make life easier and we could introduce crampons! They also met up with local instructors Andy and Callum which made digging their way up the crest a wee bit easier. After soloing the route in very atmospheric conditions they made a team decision not to go along the rest of the ridge to Beinn Fhada - instead they decended down south east to the col at 164 528. Following another look at snowpack they headed down into the Lairig Eilde employing safe travel techniques moving one at a time. A quick look at emergency shelters, they headed out passing a herd of well over one hundred deer. Another fantastic day was had by all.

14th January 2004
Reports received today of parties turning back from both the CIC Hut on Ben Nevis and from North Buttress on the Buachille having waded through some chest deep snow drifts. A further report was received that the conditions in the Ice Factor were favourable!

13th January 2004

Donald and Ken ploughed a furrow all the way along the Aonach Eagach today in knee deep sometimes waist deep snow. It was cloudy and snowing most of the day with the temperature staying around zero. On the way up Am Bodach and down at the end of the ridge they came across an area of very soft snow which was point releasing and making big snow wheels, some being up to three feet across. All in all a fantastic day out on a great ridge.

11th January 2004
Today's report comprises observations rather than a conditions report and is courtesy of www.stewrogers.com. "Strong SW winds, snow showers and hail, some heavy at times, made the trip up the Ben a bit uncomfortable today. The freezing level was around 650m, with a summit temp of -4°c. Fresh snow is lying above 400m but the majority of cover is above 800m. Significant areas of poorly bonded windslab were forming on many sheltered aspects, shearing easily on buried hail deposits. Things are not likely to improve with snow and strong winds continuing into Monday. Looks like the colder conditions should last well into the week, just what's needed, as ice build up is still pretty slow. A quiet day on the Ben today, with just a few parties about."

9th January 2004
Today's report comprises observations rather than a conditions report and is courtesy of www.stewrogers.com. "A return to winter. Midday conditions at 1200m were 35-45 mph WSW winds, -1.3°C with snow showers, falling heavy at times above 800m. The ground and old snow was just starting to freeze around 1000m, but remains wet at lower levels. The strong winds had transported significant amounts of fresh snow to N through E aspects. Several fresh releases were present in Easy Gully, and the Twins area. The viv was pretty bad at times so i suspect theres more than we saw. Release depths were the deepest seen this winter with the crown walls averaging half a metre. Interesting getting back out over the cornices which were building quite fast. Forecast to stay cold with snow showers and increasing WSW wind on Sat afternoon. Temp to rise as Sat progresses."

8th January 2004
Today's report comprises observations rather than a conditions report and is courtesy of www.stewrogers.com. "Conditions are a little better, but still pretty marginal. Wet snow is falling above 900m with a freezing level around the summits. Deposits are still thin. Things could improve slightly with the forecast freezing level due to drop to 700m on Friday with snow showers. The winds will be fairly brisk SW to W 60, gusting to 80 at summit level."

4th January 2004
It is thawing at the moment with steady rain for most of today. The summit of Ben Nevis might stay at around freezing tomorrow so we shouldn't loose too much snow and it is forecast to refreeze in a couple of days. A nice thaw freeze cycle to bring us good icy conditions.

3rd January 2004

Today was cloudier and warmer than we hoped but still a nice day. A gentle thaw had set in making the snow wet up to about 1100m and there was an icy crust on top meaning a thaw to above summit levels and a refreeze happened last night. Ice has been forming - the starting pitches of Waterfall Gully, Gemini and Shield Direct and the whole of The Curtain are all very nearly formed. Carn Dearg Buttress still holds snow and ice and Route Two would be brilliant just now. Another cold night tonight will build more ice but the freezing level will then rise to 1700m by the end of the day. We climbed Number Four Gully today which is very straight forward with no cornice problems.

2nd January 2004

It cooled down more than expected and froze down to a couple of hundred metres last night. With a little light cloud and no wind it barely warmed up during the day. Ice is forming on the Ben - Hadrians Wall Direct, Gemini and the Organ Pipes all have ice on them. The rapid thaw and refreeze we get with the kind of storms we've just had are bad news at the time but often result in some great ice forming afterwards. All the higher crags on Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor were rimed up today, there is a fair amount of snow in Glen Coe but the crags aren't so well rimed. Alan found perfect conditions today on the Aonagh Eagach - thanks for the photo!

1st January 2004
Happy New Year! The last day of 2003 was particularly stormy and one to be indoors at The Ice Factor or in the pub. It thawed to +0.5celcius at 1200m with heavy rain falling as wet snow down to 1150m today. All the rime on Aonach Mor E Face was dripping and the snow turned to leg breaking porridge. Tonight the clouds will continue to break up though and the temperature will fall slightly as the wind turns back to NW to refreeze the snow pack and consolidate it. Tomorrow and Saturday look like being nice days, dry with a few clouds, chance of rain on Sunday. Well done to Es and Blair on their ascent of The Dual, only the third ascent of this IX,9 modern masterpiece.