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Going up on the M1 Poma.
Upper M1 has decent coverage now, but the snow is hard packed with rocks to avoid lower down following thaw/freeze cycling and rain overnight.
View down the upper Cas form the Traverse.
Ptarmigan Bowl and T-bar.
Looking down the Ciste Fairway. WW Poma should run for additional uplift on Sat.
View up the Lady from the mid station of the funicular.
Only a cosmetic covering in the lower Gunbarrel.
Zig Zags are worn and bare in places, do-able with care.
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Report
Milder than expected temperatures overnight Thursday into Friday saw rain at most level of the mountain for a time, this soaked the consolidating snow pack before temperatures fell back sharply on Friday to be -5°c at the Summit. This snap thaw/freeze cycle means the surface conditions are now firm to hard packed and slightly icy in places, the plus side of that is that the snow has consolidated and will give the beginnings of a more extensive base on the Upper and mid Mountain.
Best cover is to be found in the Top Basin where there are good areas for learning, but some of the best snow recently has been on the Upper Cas, but you need to use the full length of the Traverse to get to the top of the Tow, a bit more snow is needed further down before the Cas Tow can run even form the Top of the Gunbarrel, as the uptrack is needed as a run in places to link to the Zig Zags.
Zig Zags are thin with rocks and bare areas to avoid, the best way to the M1 Poma is reported to be the 105. The M1 is complete but only suitable for experts, and is now hard and it's unpisted with rocks to dodge lower down.
Friday's photos from Helen Rennie. Please send your photos to pix@winterhighland.com and remember you can also post your own reports and photos on our public reports server.
