The Brits Return...
This weekend the Brits return to where it all started on CairnGorm after a 3 decade absence from home slopes. HOWEVER with open terrain limited to the Top Basin this means no public snowports tickets are available for Sunday!
Glencoe Access Chair, snow Sledge Park and Plateau Cafe open daily wind permitting, but no lift served snowsports in the West.
Wet, windy and clagged in conditions midweek have cleared give a dry and brightening Sunday for day 2 of the Brits on CairnGorm. Unfortunately the midweek weather saw further snow loss at mid mountain level leaving the Gunbarrel very ropey and the Cas side is now officially closed, so the funicular is not mid stopping.
Thus the only lift served snowsports on offer this weekend at the start of the Easter Holidays across the five Scottish snowsports areas is just the Top Basin on CairnGorm and no further snowsports tickets will be available for the weekend due to the numbers attending the Brits and limited other terrain. As we are into holidays if you are looking to get up this coming week, with only the Top Basin open ticket numbers will be very limited so a good idea to buy in advance.
The Traverse, upper 105 and Coire Cas into part way down the Gunbarrel remain skiable for a longer run, but you will have to hoof it back to the Base Station now. If you can arrange a lift or are prepared to do a little uphill work and a longer hoof, the Ciste Gully will get you a longer steeper ski run down to the level of the higher of the 2 fenced traverse lines towards the WWP. From there it is on foot, but you can traverse through the Aonach Bowl to minimise the uphill, then a short hop up Overyonder then down the Windy Ridge path to the Cas Carpark.
The lower level beginner area served by the magic carpets at the Daylodge is also now closed for the season.
Glenshee is now closed for snowsports, the remaining machine made snow around the lower nursery areas is being prepared into a sledge park for the start of the holidays for as long as the snow remains. Unfortunately the mild wet weather eventually took enough of a hit to break the remaining uptracks, thus no snowsports this weekend.
At Glencoe the Access Chairlift is open daily wind permitting, giving access for sightseers, ski tourers and sledgers. The sledge park is full length and full width. It is recommended to arrive by 2.30pm to get a decent period on the hill if going sledging. The Plateau Cafe is open from 10am, serving until 3pm.
For those willing to hike for turns around 2/3 rds of the Main Basin and Spring Run are skiable. There is snow on the East Ridge and Flypaper area, but this has a lot of exposure with low tide snow cover meaning it is a no fall zone!
Finally the Lecht remains closed for snowsports, but if things stay dry over the weekend and the forecast looks dry and settled for the coming week, then snow making will resume in the expectation of being able to operate one of the beginner magic carpets for Easter weekend through the following busiest holiday week.
All club fields waiting for a return of winter conditions.
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/ .
The Lowther Hill summit webcam is back in operation following replacement of parts of the power and comms setup, this will allow prospective tourers to view snow conditions on the fenced runs near the summit and the wider hillside with views down to Wanlockhead in clear weather.
At 6pm in the West at Glencoe it was -0.1°c at 3600ft, with a Westerly wind at 2 gusting 11mph. At Glenshee it was also +0.1°c at the Cairnwell summit at 6pm, while the CairnGorm Summit AWS was reporting a Westerly breeze at 13 gusting 17 mph.
Forecast models are now pretty much in agreement for generally benign mountain conditions from now through the week leading up to Easter, though there is still disagreement about extent of cloud cover over Highland Scotland. A risk that decaying frontal systems pushing into ridging high pressure will give lower cloud and perhaps some drizzle in the North and West Highlands mid-week, before pressure builds more strongly over Highland Scotland towards or into Easter Weekend.
Sunday should see the cloudbase continue to lift in the Southern Cairngorms and some longer brighter spells developing in the North of the range. A decent day with good sunny spells under part cloudy skies in the West Highlands. Around +2°c at Munro Level, with a very light and variable wind across the Highlands.
Fresher Southerly wind expected on Monday as the high pressure moves around, again the best of the brightness in the West and far North of the Cairngorms. On the whole moderate winds around 15 gusting 25mph, but risk gusting 40mph on and downslope from the Cairngorm Plateau. Temperatures slowly creeping up with the daytime freezing level just above highest summits, with around +3°c at Munro Level, nudging up to +4 later.
Tuesday into Wednesday looks more widely cloudy, with a small chance that drizzly clag might spill into the West late Tuesday night or during Wednesday as decaying frontal systems brush Highland Scotland.
However, the balance of model output strongly favours this being temporary with high pressure retrogressing slightly back over Northern Scotland then building in situ into Easter weekend and as it does so cloud cover should begin to break up and burn off.
Lowther Hill: Leadhills village camera at the Hopetoun Arms is online 24 hours a day and Lowther Hill Summit webcam is online from first light to dusk.
CAIRNGORM: Loch Morlich webcam is now hosted on a streaming service, please visit
www.lochmorlich.com .
GLENCOE: All cams and base + summit AWS online. Mid mountain AWS has failed entirely and requires replacing. : (
