November 06 Conditions

Saturday 25th November 2006

Today in the East it started out as a blue sky day but already the cloud of the next front could be seen moving in from the West Coast. Amy and I had a great day ascending Ben Wyvis. Due to the freeze/thaw cycles of the last few days the snow that is left on the summit plateau is frozen hard. There was plenty of ice and the ground was frozen too. The freezing level never got above 900m all day. There were fantastic views to the West before the front came in and we could see snow on the Fannichs and An Teallach.

Wednesday 22nd November 2006

Today it was a beautiful day in Coire an T-Sneachda in the Cairngorms. There were parties on every buttress. The snow from the weekend is starting to consolidate and there's some good neve forming on the crag aprons and in the gullys. Rob and I had a great day on White Magic a VII,7 on Aladdin's Buttress. We descended Aladdin's Couloir which is a grade I gully which leads up through some spectacular ground past the Pinnacle of Aladdin's Seat.

A report has come in from folk out exploring Creag Meagaidh today. They found that snow and ice was filling in the gullys and Raeburns Gully was in “perfect conditions”

Sunday 19th November 2006

The snow level stayed at just below 300m today on the West coast.

Saturday 18th November 2006

Today in Stob Coire Nan Lochan in Glencoe the buttresses were plastered in snow but under the snow the rock was wet and nothing much was frozen. There had been a slab avalanche out of Forked Gully. Two pairs turned around on Dorsal Arete due to the amount of snow. Similar conditions were found on the North Face of Stob Coire Nam Beith.

Thursday 16th November 2006

On Ben Nevis it snowed over night down to 600m. The gullies were starting to fill in and there was even a cornice at the top of Number 3. Rob and I had a very wintery day out on Gargoyle Wall. This grade VI mixed route high on Number Three Gully Buttress had alot of snow on the ledges, ice in the cracks and rime on the rock. We had heavy snow showers all day and as we descended it was snowing down to 400m.

Wednesday 15th November 2006

Today the Northern Corries were looking pretty black with just the odd patch of snow on the ledges so Steve and I headed into Coire Sputan Dearg. This isolated corrie South East of the Ben Macdui summit has a cliff base of 1100m and today had a lot more snow than the Northern Corries. We enjoyed an ascent of Crystal Ridge and didn't see another soul. (The 2.5hr walkin might have put them off.)

Sunday 12th November 2006

Mike and I managed to get a route in before the thaw set in this afternoon. There was snow lying down to 700m as we walked into Coire an Lochain. We had great time on Bulgy, a VII,7 to the left of Savage Slit. There were parties on Savage Slit, Fallout Corner and Hooker's Corner.

Thursday 9th November 2006

Last night there was a dusting of snow on the hills across scotland from Ben Nevis in the SW to Beinn Eighe in the NW. We headed up to Torridon where in The Celtic Jumble of boulders just East of the Youth Hostel we found excellent bouldering conditions. Lee completed his much tried project on The Ship boulder. The cold made the friction great on the Torridonian sandstone and we even had some sunshine.

Friday 3rd November 2006

It was a little more busy today in the Northern Corries as more folk heard the news that routes were getting done. Parties were out on Hookers Corner and Hoar Master. Unfortunately by the end of the day the thaw had set in and over night the cliffs turned black.
Rich was over at the Sandstone boulders 'Reiff in the Woods' just 25 minutes outside Ullapool below Stac Pollaidh.

Thursday 2nd November 2006

It stayed very cold today with good conditions in the Northern Corries. Due to the wet weather over the last 2 weeks there has been a lot of water around which, now that it has frozen is making the routes a bit harder to protect. Rob and James were out enjoying No Blues Skies in Coire an T-sneachda and Kev was spotted on Pigmy Ridge.

Wednesday 1st November 2006

Fergus and I headed into Coire an Lochain in the Cairngorms today. It was minus 5 celcius on the summit of Cairngorm and in the wind felt like minus 15. The cliffs were covered in rime ice and there was quite alot of ice at the base of the routes and in the cracks. We did Hoar Master which is a V,6 on number 3 buttress. An excellent day out to kick off the winter season.