March 2005 Conditions Reports

25th March 2005
The forecasters got the wrong days - yesterday was dry and sunny in the afternoon, today started out wet. Nick and Chris climbed the North Buttresss of Stob Ban yesterday and went over the top of this great hill in the Mamores. Today, Tower Ridge, which still has a couple of patches of snow on but not too much. It is cooling down and the freezing level will drop below the summits in the coming week. We may even get a dusting of snow!

23rd March 2005
NC Gully on Stob Coire nan Lochan gave Nick and Chris an entertaining day out today. It looked complete from the bottom apart from the rock step but the top of the gully turned into soggy gravel and turf! Broad Gully is still OK but not much else. Very wet tomorrow but dry and bright for the holiday weekend.

22nd March 2005
Cloudy and a bit wet again today forcing Nick and David onto N Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor which makes a great climb whatever condition it is in. Folks have been out cragging already, seeing as it's T-shirt weather. Ardnamurchan, Glen Nevis and Creag Dubh are good early season choices, they dry out instantly as soon as it stops raining. Should be brilliant weather on the west coast for Easter weekend.

21st March 2005
The front off to the west gently drifted over us and brought some gentle rain this afternoon but really not very much. Nick and David found the rock on Tower Ridge to be fairly dry and they encountered only a few bits of snow. So it's really only the major gullies that offer anything wintry at all - Number 2 Gully was climbed today and there is plenty of snow left in the corries for walking skills courses.

20th March 2005
Another lovely day with valley mist being burnt off quickly by the strong sunshine. Up on Ben Nevis there is no ice left at all. The major ridges (Tower, Observatory and NE) and major gullies (Tower, Number 2, Number 3, Number 4) are all lovely in these kind of conditions with a truly Alpine feel but there is nothing in the way of steep ice at all. It appears that winter ended on 14th March and summer began on 15th March! We will get frosts and falls of snow in April and possibly early May but nothing is going to bring back the ice. It was a great winter though and ice climbing conditions were the best they've been for several years.

19th March 2005
A perfect spring day, wall to wall sunshine and daffodils in flower! It was about +10celcius on the summits but in the shady gullies it was a bit cooler and the snow had a slight crust to it. There is no steep ice left in Glen Coe but on Stob Coire nan Lochan NC Gully, Broken Gully and Boomerang Gully are all good and give a nice day out. More of the same weather tomorrow and staying warm until the end of the coming week.

18th March 2005
Steady drizzle today and lots of low cloud with strong SW winds. Jon, Gerry and Geraldine climbed Ben Nevis and found it pretty tough to cross the Allt a'Mhuillin near the CIC hut. They were quite wet by the time they got across so they just went up by Coire Leis. With the cloud so low it was hard for them to see into the corries but the bottom pitches of Point Five Gully, Zero Gully, Green Gully and Orion Face had all melted away. So it looks like only the fattest ice will have survived the rain and it needs to hang in a bit longer as well! Lots of snow in the major gullies and corries though and Left Twin was climbed yesterday with a few rocky moves involved! It's been quite a thaw!

17th March 2005
Continuous heavy rain yesterday has washed away a lot of snow. Today was a bit brighter and for a while it was dry. Jon took Gerry and Geraldine up the East Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn as a start to their intro winter climbing course and they stayed dry for most of the day. It is still very warm though and will stay that way through the weekend, dry with lots of sunshine and summit temperatures of 11celcius!

15th March 2005
Yesterday was still cold and dry until the rain eased in just before it went dark. Today has been very wet with the temperature and wind both rising steadily. Expect more of the same tomorrow, temperatures in double figures at sea level, heavy rain and lots of wind. It should dry up for the weekend but it will still be warm.

13th March 2005
A great weekend for winter climbing! It's been cold with snow showers reaching sea level all weekend. Hundreds of routes on Ben Nevis and all the other hills are being climbed at the moment. This week will bring a thaw, the first serious warm-up in weeks. The ice will certainly last a long time though and if it cools down again quickly enough even more routes may well come into condition. It should be a great spring on the Ben for ice climbing!

12th March 2005

It cooled down quickly yesterday and sleet followed by snow fell down to sea level. By the end of today there has been a few centimetres of fresh snow and the old snow is frozen hard. There will be some wind tomorrow and the subsequent spindrift problems in the gullies. Next week expect a major thaw by Wednesday.

10th March 2005

Much more cloudy with gentle rain and wet snow on the highest tops. Donald and Mike climbed Central Buttress Ordinary Route on Stob Coire nan Lochain before playing on some ice smears and placing anchors below Summit Buttress. In the cloud they didn't see anyone else, neither did Nick on Tower Ridge! This weather will really help the thin face routes when it next freezes which will be at the weekend. Astral Highway, Slav Route and Observatory Buttress have already seen some action.

9th March 2005

There is still enough ice in Great Gully on Buachaille Etive Mor to make for a good day out with very little walking. Donald was coaching Mike and Steve in some leading on ice up to grade IV. They found six or seven pitches of climbing before breaking out of the gully and decending by Lagangarbh Buttress. Theo found Stand and Deliver to be in great condition still on Aonach Beag before the rain started late in the afternoon. It's been warm during the days and cold at night - great thaw freeze cycles to consolidate the thin face routes!

8th March 2005
Yesterday and today were dry, warm and frosty over night. We have not lost any snow but it is getting a bit wet on the tops. When it freezes again ready for the weekend the snow should have transformed well into good neve everywhere. Plenty of climbs to go for but there is some heat in the sun and it is having an effect on some routes.

6th March 2005

A hard frost last night due to clear skies also gave us a cloud inversion this morning. Perfect weather for the Aonach Eagach. The ridge is buried in snow and in really good condition just now - a proper winter traverse. The valley clouds did break up during the day and the sun had some heat in it, a sign that next week will be a bit warmer. The slightly higher temperature had a big effect on Eliot's Downfall - as it has just about touched down it fell off today!

5th March 2005

The fresh snow of the past few days has been blown around a bit and there is a layer of a few inches on southerly aspects that isn't very well stuck in place. Donald found this layer after descending from the Carn Mor Dearg Arete into Coire Leis but with some safe travel techniques - going straight down the slope, one at a time, watching each other - they descended perfectly safely. Gemini was climbed in fine style today even though it still looks a little thin and The Shield Direct was climbed this week with some rock climbing on the first pitch. High pressure is still dominating so the good weather will continue.

4th March 2005

The international meet came to Ben Nevis today and enjoyed cold, good weather. Ascents were made of The Curtain, Comb Gully, Mega Route X, Tower Face of the Comb, Cornucopia (well done Ian and Stan), Point Five Gully and two teams made very quick ascents of Orion Direct. Quite a successful day really! All this action was being watched by Donald and Seamus as the climbed Tower Ridge after a fresh fall of snow.

3rd March 2005
A couple more sunny, blue sky days - this weather is just great! Tonight a brief warm up and some precipitation will happen as a warm front tracks southwards over Scotland. It'll start off as snow on the tops and turn a bit wetter during the night. However the cold front coming down afterwards will just bring the temperature back down again and give us a bit more snow. A miniature thaw freeze cycle. The temperature might, at long last, start to go up properly next week as warm air circulates around the high pressure system. This isn't a big problem though, it's bad weather that brings the best spring climbing conditions on Ben Nevis.

1st March 2005

The temperature dropped last night and a little snow fell down to 300m. The snow showers continued through the day but didn't come to much as it's still NE winds. On the W Face of Aonach Dubh Elliot's Downfall hasn't touched down yet but The Screen and Number 6 Gully look full.