I was up near Caenlochan Glen (not to be confused with ski run) this afternoon and had a few clear views of some south facing patches high up just before the summit of Glas Maol. Nothing special. But less than 14 days ago these small patches formed one big patch that could have been a few hundred metres long and a rewarding run, because its a fair old hike in & out.

Had the patch been a bit bigger I would have made the effort to take "a closer inspection".

Whats really depressing is that this time last year the whole hill was white let allone patchy, but I guess thats the same story elsewhere too

Photo(taken on Friday 16th March):
The tallest hill in the photo is Glas Maol (with its patches being the ones Im reffering to), with the steep cliffs to the right being just above Caenlochan Glen. The patches dont resemble much now, though not long ago they were all one.

 

Saw some other patches here & there that might be worth a visit next weekend.

Last Tuesday there was a long wreath on the SE side of Driesh, easily seen from high ground at Boghead near Lunan Bay. The snow wreath at Brudhach Mor on the E flank of Glas Maol was long and looked a fair depth when viewed through binoculars. Last Friday there was still a very long deep patch crossing the south side of Beinn a' Bhuird along Ear Choire-sneachdach and Iar Choire-sneachdach, well over 1 km long, and very large snowfields in the Snowy Corrie NE of Ben Macdui and big long wreaths in the shallow corrie leading to Loch Etchachan, also big wreaths on the Buidheanach of Cairn Toul and on Beinn Bhrotain's Coire an t-Sneachda. A surprisingly long deep wreath was low on Ben Avon on its SE flank SW of Allt Phouple. Lochnagar has less snow than I can recall at this time of year, and John Robertson who was stalker at Spittal of Glenmuick for decades agrees. The Cuidhe Crom is especially small and shallow. There's a much longer and deeper wreath at the Broon Coo's White Calf above Corndavon Lodge, despite the much lower altitude.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 21.11hrs Sun 18 Mar 12 by Chionophile.

I was on Tom a' Choinnich and Toll Creagach north of Glen Affric yesterday and was surprised at the amount of snow. Not much for March but a lot considering recent weather. There was evidence of small scale avalanches and major cornice sag. I'd say the out extent of the snow is about 5 metres out from the edge of the ridge. Some very basic photos here: [www.albacampervans.com]

-----------------------------------------------------------
For campervan hire in Scotland visit [www.albacampervans.com] - Bhanaichean Campachaidh ann an Alba

A couple of pictures from Chionophile, taken on the 16th March. Both from Gelder Shiel.

The Laird's Tablecloth on Beinn a' Bhuird is well set!

Attachments: Ben Macdui - 16.03.12.JPG (40kB)   Beinn a\' Bhuird - 16.03.12.JPG (31kB)  

Right, it's spot the difference time...

First picture is from Saturday 17 March 2012 (thanks to Alan Halewood), and the second is from 4 March 2011 (thanks to Gary Hodgson). Anyone like to give an impression of how they compare?

Dave MacLeod has told me he climbed Gardyloo Gully on Sunday and found the entire Orion Face and Observatory Buttress free of old snow, very unusual for mid March. He said there was a fair depth on the summit, up to the bottom of the trig point.

Oh dear!

Useful photograph from today at the top of The Cairnwell. Courtesy of SAIS. [1.bp.blogspot.com]

...and I see Helen has been investigating new options! [saismeagaidh.blogspot.co.uk]

A few days old now, but gives an idea of the paucity of snow for mid March - heres hoping April roars like a Lion all the way thru to May!

Some good photographs from Alan O'Dowd from Beinn a' Chrulaiste, Saturday 24th March.

[i1144.photobucket.com]
[i1144.photobucket.com]
[i1144.photobucket.com]
[i1144.photobucket.com]

The last photograph shows an unusual view of Bidean nam Bian, with some very deep snow situated on NE facing flanks. The cliffs around Stob Coire nan Lochan are looking pretty dire, mind you. The sort of view I would expect to see in mid or late May.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 13.47hrs Mon 26 Mar 12 by firefly.

some great pictures of CMD and the Ben from Tarmachan Mountaineering from yesterday here:

[www.tarmachan.blogspot.co.uk]

You beat me to it, DrHosking! Just being a pedant, but it's useful to link to the specific page rather than the main blog site. When the site gets refreshed, the page you want to draw attention to is no longer where it originally was. I've saved you the bother [www.tarmachan.blogspot.co.uk]

Doug Irvine's photograph from 17 March shows a still very snowy Garbh Choire Mor, Braeriach.

I had the same as you!