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Coronation Wall from the Fiacaill Traverse.
Brightening up to the West as seen from the Cas Gunbarrel.
Upper Cas and 105 from the 105 at the top of the Gunbarrel.
Looking over the 105 and Cas Gunbarrel to the Lower Slopes and Loch Morlich beyond.
Putting in some evening turns as the Cas T-bar does it's thing after 7pm.
Distant hills catching some evening rays as a boarder heads out West on the Fiacaill Traverse.
Purple Helmet lost a fiver....
Daylodge becoming narrow, but complete. Better cover skiers left of Poma taking a line through the Daylodge Glades.
Bumps building in the evening. Gunbarrel, 105 and M1 merge into one snowy expanse still.
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A few brief wintry showers but also brighter spells with decent light for the sizable numbers who turned up / stayed late on CairnGorm Mountain, with the Carpark T-bar, Coire Cas T-bar and Fiacaill Ridge Poma turning till after 7.30pm.
There is still a wide layer of newly thawing snow, this is giving quite slow surface conditions in less used areas, but in other areas it's more like granular spring snow.
The forecast for dry and increasingly sunny weather should see surface conditions continue to come back to us day on day as we go into the weekend, diurnal freeze thaw cycling morphing the sticker newer snow into proper granular spring snow.
Best spring snow was skiers left of the Cas T-bar parallel to the Gunbarrel with some nice bumps building. Also good was out on the Fiacaill runs, continuing down over the Fiacaill Crossover diagonally to the Carpark Run.
Snow is firmer up top with the FL below the Summit. If winds ease and/or any clear spells develop overnight the snow should crunch up lower down too, before loosening up quickly.
Some exploring at different times of day will pay dividends for finding the best surface conditions over the coming days.
Some walking is required to regain the Ciste Carpark via the Ciste Gully, but people were doing it on Thursday to catch the Shuttle Bus and get the full length of the main Ciste Runs, and huge tracts of off-piste on the East Wall. Beware of the burn lower down below the Chair boardwalks though!
Still fantastic off-piste steeps in Laogh Mor too, the Laogh Mor Return is mostly skiable and can be used to get to the Ciste Carpark with just a little low level heather hoping.
The short breaks are well worth it for some amazing off-piste, but if you want to keep your planks on and close to the lifts, Coronation Wall and the East Lady still offer fantastic steeps.