Unfortunately the Herrot Watt University AWS on the Summit of CairnGorm Mountain suffered a motor failure earlier this month and is stuck inside the de-icing enclosure. On the publicly available data feeds from the Met Office AWS there have been no gust speeds given for a number of hours - this could be software error checking blocking out speeds that are deemed 'ridiculous', but the mean windspeed has been sustained at Hurricane Force 12 for a number of hours.
Incidentally the officially accepted UK windspeed record of 176mph was recorded by an AWS on CairnGorm Mountain that only sampled for 2 1/2 minutes out of every 30. Given the 194mph speed recorded by the Funicular monitoring system in Dec 2008 and a previous record of 161mph across the line of the White Lady Chairlift at a slightly lower altitude one has to wonder just how close actual wind speeds on CairnGorm Mountain have come to the widely accepted world record speed for non tornadic winds of 231mph on Mt Washington in the USA in 1934 - thought to be the result of a sting jet feature which is not an unknown if rare meteorological occurrence over Highland Scotland.
In the early 90s the Daylodge contained an information exhibition which had a section on the Summit Weather Stations and the data collected. A note by those involved was that the margin by which the limited sampling time of the Heriot Watt AWS affected maximum windspeed suggested that the wind had almost certainly exceeded 200mph on CairnGorm Mountain on a number of occasions since the AWS installation.
Just being up there isn't enough, one day the record will fall...
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Why not put more monitoring stations up there to record the weather
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
The wind last night at Glencoe snapped the data cable for the Base AWS! On top of that, the new replacement webcam for the top of the Access Chair is bloody stuck.
Ricklovesthepowder, for an open prong ultrasonic AWS that can record these types of speed your looking at a starting price of £7500, you can double it for a heated one for use in extreme icing conditions.... that's only for the anemometer part, never mind temperature etc!!
Winterhighland, Oh, i see the problem!!! So what were the highest windspeeds recorded across Scotland last night?
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Ricklovesthepowder, on the mainland, the peak gust was 129 mph on the road between Lochcarron and Applecross at the Bealach na Ba (pass of the cattle). It's a great place to be if you ever get the opportunity.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Evening All.
After aborting plans last weekend due to uncertainties on the wind front, Saturday at least is looking good for a visit to Cairngorm.
According to Winterhighland website, Saturday looks ok (wind-ise) for all areas at the moment, with Sunday's wind getting up to 40-60mph from the west. Given the current forecast and westerly wind direction for Sunday, which ski area (if any) is likely to be our best bet for that day? Glencoe? (With the wind coming from behind the hill?) Or maybe Glenshee? (With it's low-ish level drag lifts and good snow cover?)
Cheers.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 30-01-13 21:18; edited 1 time in total
After all it is free
After all it is free
^ top seafood and beer in the Appelcross Inn. Dressed crab (dinner plate sized) and a pint of prawns on the side a personal favourite nom nom
The drive over the Bealach is not for the faint-hearted in winter (if open!)
Great spot
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Cycled one of the Applecross loops during summer inc. up and over the pass. Never has a table of sea food tasted so good!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Some pix from Glencoe on Friday, around a foot of fresh snow has fallen since Thursday morning. Mix of windblown, windpacked and skier packed on the upper half of the mountain. Snow a little more packed down lower down as it was a bit heavier and temperatures have fallen back, but it does mean the groomed lines on the Plateau and Low Road are in great shape for longer greens. Up top there was enough wind to keep topping up the fresh in the Main Basin through the day.
^Gully completely filled in now on Old Mugs Alley (that is the NEW fence line for OLD Mugs Alley, got that?)
^Looking up the Cliffhanger. Some lines by the Chair being done today.
The storms of the past week have put a lot of snow in all the right places, the mountains in fantastic shape and the weather is looking good with the Sun due to come out and play at times on Saturday. All uplift due to run, the Rannoch Button was given a wee spin on Friday afternoon and patrol went up OK, so it's good to go as well at the top.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Great photos oldagedpredator
Superb conditions at Cairngorm today, lovely fresh snow in all the right places and all uplift working (apart from the Ciste chairs sadly) - Ciste Gully was awesome this afternoon, well worth the effort after a busy morning working
Possibly pretty windy tomorrow and Monday but more fresh set to fall and temps staying low so all boding very well for half term.
Did you see this well-dressed fella / fellaess on your travels ?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
moffatross, Yeah, just didnt manage to get a picture - the whole skirt button thing would have made a good one.
Been a bit of a relevelation today, wider skis with rocker and stiffer boots used each with other boots or skis this season always felt a bit like they were skiing me. Not today, might take a lesson or two though just to get the most out of the set up. Made skiing the goose a pleasure compared to usual pinging on the light weight kit.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
oldagedpredator, yep, the Goose was super-lush today, full of wind and skier packed powder. It's a shame Warren's T-Bar wasn't running as the run itself after accessing from the summit was in great condition and should have seen more action. Narrow, steep and fast, it's marked as a 'red', but it would be a 'black' in every Euro resort I've skied.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
moffatross, Warren's is now a black to compensate for the loss of blacks from the un-grading of the Coire Dubh runs.
A few photos from Glencoe on Saturday, for a full report and more pix click the link below.
^Boarder pops out onto Mugs Alley having exited the Canyon (another red who's grade was getting a bit of discussion at the bottom of the middle lifts).
^Looking up the Canyon from Mugs Alley through the Cliffhanger Chair.
^Happy Valley was the place to be for confident intermediates upwards.
^Being inspired... learning the basics below the stunning backdrop of the Spring Run.
Back to the grading thing, maybe it's a bit like the old 'sandbagging' that went on in Scottish Climbing - where grades were deliberately underrated and for long enough topped out at HVS no matter how challenging !! Do bare in mind though that the grading is relative within each area, many think the Spring Run should probably be black, and the Canyon a challenging black - that tells you that the only actual black, the Flypaper deserves respect!
^If you don't think it's steep, check out the lone boarder!
Reading the Canyon might actually challenging black makes me feel a whole lot better about my efforts to get down it a couple of years back - no particualr style but down.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Have the Back Corries opened at Nevis at all recently? Starting to look at weather windows for my annual dash up North, looks like Glencoe has enough cover now!!
kitenski, they are seeing plenty of action given my FB news feed this morning
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
kitenski, the backs saw action in all 3 corries yesterday and there was sufficient snow for a complete traverse out and uplift to support plenty of laps (although it goes without saying that the Braveheart wasn't running). My two boys didn't like the look of any of the entries so I could only look down into Coire Dubh with a sense of envy, as we pootled down the scraped strip of snow between the rocks and the cornices.
There are some great photos floating about at the moment & I'm sure they'll make their way to snowheads in a wee while.
Passing down Lemming Ridge as a snowboarder lowers himself onto the snow face ...
After all it is free
After all it is free
moffatross, Any reasoning as to why Braveheart isn't running??? If Braveheart doesn't run I'd probably head to Glencoe...
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
kitenski, you could wait for Braveheart to run for a long time and miss out on really epic skiing. As I recall, it typically operates for just 1 or 2 days in March, about every third winter and even on the days it's fired up, it can be quite unreliable (there were a bunch of abseil rescues off it a few years back). The chair actually serves quite a small bit of vertical in just one of the bowls so even without the extra wee bit of vertical assistance that Braveheart gives, some friends still managed 4 laps yesterday, taking in the summit gullies, Easy Gully in Coire an Lochain and Chancer in Coire Dubh.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
moffatross, is it just me, or is that snowboarder lowering himself over quite an unstable-looking bit of snow?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
pam w, the alternative (for most of us ) is to drop over the lip, accelerate through a steep traverse and focus on that first turn like we skiers have to. I had a scary, bruising, ego-bashing, cart-wheeling fall just under that boarder a few years ago after blowing the first turn on the steep snow from the entry point in that photo so I can well understand why they might want to find a way of avoiding it.
So what they'll often do instead is to chop back some cornice and lower themselves in, ready for a simple scrape straight down until they've reached a point on the snow face where the gradient is such that they're comfortable with turning. These are just observations as I've never snowboarded so I don't know the reasons behind those choices.
Incidentally, I was talking with a fellow snowhead on the way back from Glenshee last weekend who told me that once upon a time, Nevis used to create a pisted 'black run' into Coire Dubh by running a piste basher on winch points right up to the summit. How times have changed ...
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
moffatross wrote:
Incidentally, I was talking with a fellow snowhead on the way back from Glenshee last weekend who told me that once upon a time, Nevis used to create a pisted 'black run' into Coire Dubh by running a piste basher on winch points right up to the summit. How times have changed ...
That sounds great! Wonder if there's any pics.
Conditions look great at the moment. I can't do next weekend either but after that am free to hook up for a couple of days at least before heading to Val.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
pam w, this video illustrates very well the steepness of the entry in to the back corries.
shoogly, I can see it's very steep! I was just wondering about the stability of that cornice. Conditions do look great at the moment, hope everyone enjoys their skiing.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
moffatross wrote:
kitenski, you could wait for Braveheart to run for a long time and miss out on really epic skiing. As I recall, it typically operates for just 1 or 2 days in March, about every third winter and even on the days it's fired up, it can be quite unreliable (there were a bunch of abseil rescues off it a few years back). The chair actually serves quite a small bit of vertical in just one of the bowls so even without the extra wee bit of vertical assistance that Braveheart gives, some friends still managed 4 laps yesterday, taking in the summit gullies, Easy Gully in Coire an Lochain and Chancer in Coire Dubh.
The problem is if I get a window to make it up there, it often revolves around a 'meeting' on the way up, so end up being mid week and on my own, so wouldn't fancy being in the back corries on my own....
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
kitenski, more often than not there's someone around to ski with, even if it's patrol to take a lap.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Conditions do look great at the moment... my timing of moving house and having the busiest period of work and great snow conditions all at the same time isn't ideal
pam w, I know what you mean about the cornice... pretty sure some will probably stand on the bit that's about to give way below them as they bash it with their poles in true GNAR fashion
Snowing and blowing today, snow showers are rattling in from the West and reaching all areas, though by the nature of showers, some hills are seeing more than others. Only the Lecht is open this morning, the A939 being the last East Coast access road open!!
Top gust so far today is 92mph at the Glencoe SSC Hut at 2800ft! Met Office Amber weather warning goes amber at 5pm with a further 10-20cm of snow for some upland areas through the night and Tuesday morning. Nevis, Glencoe are in the Amber area, CairnGorm is on the edge but all areas within the yellow warning for upto 15cm of snow in the current warning period.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
^Snowing last night for sure. Might rain in Aviemore for a while later, depends on how quickly the warmer air aloft gets squeezed out by the occluded front and also there could be quite big variations in snow level over fairly short distances for the rest of today - but it should all be snow on the mountains. Temp gradually dropping back tomorrow to bring snow to lower levels once again.
After all it is free
After all it is free
I can report that Cairngorm is totally loaded with fresh snow and still snowing heavily!
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Glenshee has great cover across all the runs and is looking in fantastic shape for the start of half term, it's planned for all lifts at the weekend. Some fantastic snow about, pick of the day was the Cairnwell RaceTracks.
Further out / up snow is a bit more variable off the main groomed trails, on Glas Maol and in Coire Fionn there is some really sweet snow, but some fairly grim bits too! You just need to explore it to find the best lines out there. Out beyond Center Gully there is decent lines off the ridge, but the bowl of Glas Choire looked horrible and sounded even worse from the Poma! A consequence of the stormy first half of the week, however on the main groomed trails the piste bashers are evening it out nicely.
^Butchart's Access Poma and run, Carn Aosda fenced runs to right off photo were groomed as dusk fell and the T-bar should run Friday. Given Butchart's was nice all day would expect early packed powder corduroy on Carn Aosda.
^Cairnwell Slalom (Red RaceTrack) was superb all day, both RaceTracks fantastic and the pick of the day.
^Skiers emerge from Tiger Gully, a short fun run off the Baddoch Chair - also useful for getting from any part of the Cairnwell / Carn Aosda to the Cairnwell Chairlift.
From WH "Nevis saying they will have the great glen and rob roy running this weekend and will aim to get the braveheart running avy risk dependent!!! YA DANCER "
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
) is to drop over the lip, accelerate through a steep traverse and focus on that first turn like we skiers have to. I had a scary, bruising, ego-bashing, cart-wheeling fall just under that boarder a few years ago after blowing the first turn on the steep snow from the entry point in that photo so I can well understand why they might want to find a way of avoiding it.
