CairnGorm has now closed for lift served snowsports. The lift served Mountain Biking season is now underway at both Nevis Range and Glencoe.
Glencoe Access Chair and snow Sledge Park open daily wind permitting, but no lift served snowsports in the West, but 1200ft of touring vertical possible.
Unless something fairly spectacular now happens late April or early May it looks like the 2023 Scottish Snowsports Season has drawn to a close for lift served riding with CairnGorm Mountain now closed for the season.
Sadly not the bluebird skies of Saturday or that is expected for much of the coming week to end on with a lot more cloud and in places hill fog from a decaying warm front that has introduced much milder and humid air into the building high pressure.
This warm humid air has given the recent fresh accumulations a bit of a shift, but as skies clear some night frosts are expected so for those prepared to do the leg work for some turns and / or tours on the remaining high level snow fields the surface conditions should improve day by day with increasingly granular spring snow surfaces to be found.
For now the Terrain park remains in good shape down the line parallel to the Ptarmigan Tow on CairnGorm, but unclear how long it will be left in situ or whether the kickers will be left standing. However because of the Funicular visitor management plan closed system, anyone wishing to hit the park will have to hike from the Daylodge and remember nothing is now patrolled!
At Glencoe there were new drifts approaching 2m deep in some places after the mid week blizzard, but other areas were scoured clear. Unfortunately given soft unconsolidated snow and soft ground underneath it proved impossible to achieve anything worthwhile when the piste bashers went out to try.
However, for those willing to hike or skin up, the Main Basin and Spring Run are complete and it is possible to link areas of snow to ski back to part way down the Plateau or Old Mugs Alley, but the fresh snow at plateau and mid mountain level is expected to retreat quickly over the coming week .
The sledge park is full length and there is no additional charge to use the sledges. It is recommended to arrive by 3pm to get a decent period on the hill if going sledging. The Plateau Cafe is closed for the season unless lift served snowsports resume.
Also at Glencoe, the red and black lift served downhill bike tracks are open, but the upper sections do have a few patches of snow cover in spots.
At Nevis Range the full selection of bike trails are open wind permitting, see official report page for day to day status and weather.
Glenshee and Nevis Range are closed for the season. Finally the Lecht remains closed for snowsports at present as there is no snow, but will reopen should the snow return during April or early May.
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 +6.8°c at 3600ft, with a WSW wind of 15 gusting 23mph. At the Cairnwell summit the temperature was +5.2°c and the CairnGorm Summit AWS was reporting a Westerly wind at 11 gusting 19mph.
The new week will see high pressure firmly in control of the weather across Highland Scotland and progressively through Monday remaining cloud from Sunday is expected to burn off to give extensive sunshine for Tuesday onwards. Around 5 to 7°c at Munro Level on Monday rising to +6 to possibly +9°c to the North of the major ranges with a light to moderate Southerly for Tuesday. It will feel increasingly warm in the glens with temperatures in the Central Highlands pushing into the upper teens, some favoured locations may nudge 20°c on Monday or Tuesday.
Throughout the rest the weekday period, should see unbroken sunshine in the West Highlands and Northern Cairngorms, again a light South to ESE breeze, occasionally giving a wee bit more cloud / haze in the South Eastern Highlands. Slightly cooler air will bring temperatures down a few degrees for Wednesday with Munro Level temperatures around +4°c, but temperatures will slowly pick up again as the sunshine continues later in the week.
On the tops, in sheltered corries and some glens a touch of frost at night next week despite the fairly warm daytime highs. Perhaps down to -2 or -3°c in some spots where it is calm under clear skies.
This will slowdown thaw the thaw of the long established higher level snowfields and freeze / thaw cycling of snow (even where air temperature does not get below freezing) will morph the surviving deeper areas of recent snow into more granular spring like snow. Exposed old snow may be firm early in the day, but loosening to granular spring snow in the spring sunshine.
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. : (
