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 Catching sunrise from first train up, at the Ptarmigan before 9am!
|  Early bird catches the corduroy worm! Untouched cord at the top of the M1 Poma.
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 Sun rising above the Ptarmigan Traverse.
|  Top of the 105, blue sky overhead, mist below.
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 105 and Upper Cas in good shape, but middle of Cas narrower.
|  Looking over the Upper Cas to the Headwall and Fiacaill a' Choire Chais.
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 Looking up the mid Cas from the middle 105 Link.
|  As is usually the case in persistent East to SE wind, the middle section of the Cas has relatively little snow given the amount around the mountain, while the upper Cas is well filled and Gunbarrel flat.
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 Early afternoon snow shower. Note the cornice below the Zig Zag fence!
|  Loch Morlich and Meall a' Bhuachaille beyond from the Zig Zags.
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 Second Zig Zag looking over the link to the M1 Poma.
|  White Lady and East Lady in good shape with the persistent SE wind.
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Thanks to Kerry Mcarthur for Friday's photos from the 'Gorm. If you have been out on the slopes, please send photos to the email address at the foot of this page.
A light sprinkling of snow overnight, gave way to clearing skies above post dawn on CairnGorm as the sun came up, however with a stronger than forecast North wind the Northern Cairngorms did not have the bluebird day the West and Glenshee had.
The flip was some further snow showers during the day, with cloud lifting again later in the afternoon as the transient ridge of high pressure building in from the west surpassed the showers, with these receding to nearer the coast.
For those looking for maximum options with least use of surface lifts, CairnGorm is offering 1550ft of vertical descent from the Funicular, with a mix of green, blue and red terrain available without setting ski or board near a Poma or T-bar, if you really don't want to! For less confident intermediates the Traverse into Coire Cas, Zig Zags then the lower slopes gives the option for an all green route, but for more confident intermediates the pick from the train is the M2 and Daylodge Run (for more advanced skiers and expert boarders this can also be accessed by the Daylodge Poma / West Wall Poma combo).
Fan guns are running on thinner / narrower areas of the Carpark Run and this is improving, but the M2 / Daylodge run is the best route to the Cas Carpark and good option to end the day on.
The Top Basin is in great shape for those progressing from the nursery slopes, but it will be very cold on Saturday even though the wind is relatively light. It was -9°c at the summit early on Friday!
The Cas Carpark is expected to fill very quickly on Saturday morning, shuttle buses will run from the Ciste all day. Remember there is currently NO facilities in the Ciste Carpark and there may be a wait for the shuttle bus at peak times.
The on mountain equipment hire is fully booked for several days during Half Term, do not travel to the mountain expecting to hire equipment unless you have pre-booked. There are a number of alternative options in and around Aviemore, including at the Pine Marten Bar in Glenmore just after Loch Morlich on the Ski Road.
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