Click on Thumbnail to view larger images. Click on Title for Image Index.
In the Coire Cas Gunbarrel about to run out of snow!
Looking down a narrow Coire Cas.
Some grass skiing in the Gunbarrel!
Looking up to the top of the Coire Cas T-bar, tow track broken at the top.
White Lady and M1 from the Zig Zags, it should not look like this!
A kicker in Coire Cas. There's a smaller one further just below the road crossover.
Looking up Coire Cas from the car park.
Depressing view up the Gunbarrel.
Click on Thumbnail to view larger images. Click on Title for Image Index.
Displayed: Images 1 to 8 of 8
Report
A bright start gave way to flurries and drizzle as the mist came down into Coire Cas. Being March it made for the 29th consecutive month of personal skiing on CairnGorm Mountain, but the 29th month should not have been like this.
On foot from the Daylodge to the top of the Gunbarrel via the Zig Zags without touching snow. The only snow on the Zig Zags is a narrow broken ribbon in the drain beside the road on the top leg.
It's completely back to square one from the snowsports perspective for the whole Cas side of the mountain with the exception of Coire Cas itself. The Upper Cas is complete but very narrow, but the tow track is broken in a couple of places at the top and just above the top of the Gunbarrel.
Coire Cas is skiable but even if the tow track was patched up there is not enough snow to build a high enough snow ramp for loading at the top of the Gunbarrel, to do so would require dropping the rope which would make the tow more vulnerable to cross winds and high winds are forecast for the weekend. Access to the Cas would require walking from the Top Station to the first snow on a broken Traverse, then walking down the Zig Zags to get back to the mid-station.
