Click on Thumbnail to view larger images. Click on Title for Image Index.
Bluebird Saturday drawing to a close as Meall a' Bhuiridh falls into shadow.
Pisting the Weasel at nightfall as seen from the carpark.
Heading for home via the Blue Access Run / new track.
Weasel Gully about 1800ft. Lots of lines of windblown fresh with every hollow and shallow gully holding deep drifted snow to low levels.
Great sledging at the Plateau Cafe, with skiing to the base the Cafe here was quieter than a normal busy day.
Coire Pollach Tow and the top of Old Mugs Alley looking North.
Dawn reveals a queue of traffic several multiples of the capacity of the Glencoe and Nevis Range carparks combined!
The fenced low level Red Access Run at dusk. Lots of tracks on the Darkside too, but baseless fresh snow so caution required over there!
The shallow gully in Old Mugs Alley is filled flat across. Very good cover across the Plateau giving lots of long green / easy blue options.
Foot of the Red and Blue Access Runs by the Carpark.
Looking up Mugs Alley to the Spring Run. Fence Depth on most of the Plateau runs now.
How about some tree skiing at Glencoe?
The Glencoe access road around midnight. Another 4-5 inches of snow and heavy drifting.
Both the Rannoch Button and Main Basin T-bar running on Saturday, button was at times ride on.
Click on Thumbnail to view larger images. Click on Title for Image Index.
Displayed: Images 1 to 14 of 14
Report
With over a metre of new snow having fallen, topped up by 5-6 inches overnight with constant ground drifting even at the elevation of the relatively low level access road, coupled with a forecast bluebird day many days out a very busy Saturday in the West was assured.
However it did rather go off the scale with a queue on the A82 that at one point was not just several times the capacity of Glencoe's carpark but approaching multiples of the combined capacity of Glencoe and Nevis Range!
It was however not stupid busy once up the mountain, range of terrain and a full house of main uplift, coupled with various low level routes to base being skiable meant the Access Chair was absorbing a large number of riders. 2400ft of vertical from top of the Main Basin to base of the Access Chair.
After a day of heavy ski traffic there is a mix of machine and skier packed fresh snow across the mountain, but there are still some lightly tracked pockets if you explore particularly far out on the Plateau and off the beaten path below the top of the Access Chair. Those prepared to do some hiking or with touring kit can take advantage of some nice lines out to the Old Military Road / West Highland Way.
The Plateau area has fence depth cover on the runs with a wide go just about anywhere cover in between. These are grooming up to give machine packed powder corduroy for the early birds. Lots of options for early intermediates up stepping up to longer greens and easy blues. Rankins Return was probably the pick today.
Snow will move in around mid morning on Sunday with a freshening SE wind, that direction usually doesn't affect Glencoe unless general wind speeds are very high, but overhead will become challenging with heavy snow and drifting expected. Be prepared and there should be some great new fresh tracks to be laid!
