A Frozen Blanket
19th February 2025
Today was mainly dry and overcast with strong Southerly winds. Whilst visibility was good, with summit views across the area, the expectation up high was for more challenging conditions, with greater amounts of snow blowing around and reduced visibility. What actually transpired travelling up towards the summit, seeing glazed rocks and thick clumpy rime, was a snowpack trapped in a frozen crust, blanketing the softer snow underneath from exposure to the wind. Foot steps through the crust releasing small plumes to be blown away. Digging down into isolated deeper areas, some windslab was still present but overall reasonably well bonded, these areas mainly above 900 metres and affecting all the Northerly aspects. It didn’t feel so cold today, with summit temperatures around -2c.
Milder and wet conditions tomorrow will generally thaw and consolidate the snowpack but with wet snow instabilities in steeper isolated areas. Please refer to the full forecast.
Limited snow on the northern side of the Aonach Eagach.
The North-East corie below Stob Coire nan Lochan.
Stob Coire Sgreamhach, the North-East headwall of Coire Gabhail and the Lost Valley Crags.
Stob a Ghlais Choire with a North-West aspect in the fore ground, rime and ice on the rocks.
Sron nam Forsair up onto Clach Leathad.
A soft slab under the frozen blanket. North-East aspect Meall a Bhuiridh.
Comments on this post
Got something to say? Leave a comment
