 brian
brian
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Courtesy of the redoubtable firefly on www.winterhighland.info, news that 12 snowpatches made it through the summer in the Scottish highlands.
Garbh Choire Mhor is on Braeriach in the Cairngorms, Garbh Uisge Beag is on Ben Macdui, again in the Cairngorms.
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In total, 12 survivals:
1) Garbh Choire Mhor - Pinnacles
2) Garbh Choire Mhor - Sphinx
3) Garbh Choire Mhor - Michaelmas Fare
4) Garbh Uisge Beag #1
5) Garbh Uisge Beag #2
6) Garbh Uisge Beag #3
7) Aonach Beag (again, the largest by some distance)
8 ) Aonach Mor (protalus, not the higher ones that survived last year)
9) Ben Nevis - Point 5 Gully
10) Ben Nevis - Gardyloo Gully
11) Ben Nevis - Observatory Gully #1 (larger than last year by quite a way)
12) Ben Nevis - Observatory Gully #2
The lasting snows came approximately 2-weeks sooner in 2008 than in 2007, and a full report will (hopefully) appear in Weather magazine sometime in the new year.
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He's also put together a wiki page about our nearly eternal snows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_patches_in_Scotland
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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IT'S THE START OF A NEW ICE AGE!!!!
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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?
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brian, fascinating stuff. The research I'm doing into a disaster during the Little Ice Age (1550s to 1850s) suggests that Scotland had glaciation during that period, but I know nothing more than that. It'd be interesting to know what research exists. Right here in north London we live close to the terminal morains of the ice sheets of the Ice Age. There's a wood near Muswell Hill called 'Coldfall Wood', which shows the geological evidence of that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldfall_Wood
I wonder how geologists put dates on past glaciation evidence, such as in the Scottish Highlands?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'd welcome other  s views on the question I've been mulling over......
Now that the £ is so poor against the Euro and parity (1 to 1 exchange rate) is just around the corner, is Scotland truly a viable alternative to skiing in Europe?
I appreciate that you will not get the variety and 'depth' of skiing/facilities that the European resorts offer, but for us that want a quick ski fix (long weekend of skiing rather than a week's hol) is it as cheap and easy to jump on a budget flight to North of the border?
And if not Scotland, where?
I have to say that I've been looking at non-Euro countries for deals. Have always had a liking for Sweden so Åre, Vemdalen, Riksgränsen are on my list. But how about Zakopane in Poland for example. I even heard that Iceland which was traditionally incredibly expensive has seen a big increase in tourists since their currency went splat and everything is so much cheaper - according to an article on the BBC it's cheaper to buy a beer in Reykjavik than London!
Article - Tourism heats up after Icelandic Meltdown: 400% increase in Iceland flight searches
http://news.skyscanner.net/articles/2008/10/000666-tourism-heats-up-after-icelandic-meltdown-400-increase-in-iceland-flight-searches.html
What are people's views? What are the pros, cons, etc
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I remember a significant snow cap (area and depth) on the summit of Ben Nevis in June 1982 (during a week of fantastic weather).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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There's a recent and fairly sizeable thread about this. I can't find it, but I can easily summarise it:
It's brilliant, no it's not, yes it is, no it isn't, yes it is, etc.
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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.
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Haha, hello roga, I posted that while you were posting yours 
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^ that's your excuse, everyone else might believe it... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Oh, and hello
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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.
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I was making a semi-serious point as well (believe it or not) - i,e, that the question 'is skiing in scotland worth the bother' seems to be divisive to an almost binary degree. I thought it was ace, but it's probably not for everyone (and I had reasonably good conditions - over 30% of the area open, visibility above 50m, only raining some of the time, skis with plastic bindings fitted, and so on).
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brian
brian
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laundryman, I've skied at Glenshee once in June. '85 I think. Butchart's coire was still complete.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Sleipnir, start a thread entitled "Which is better: La Rosiere or Scotland" and the world will probably end or something.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks folks!
And paulio, as for starting the thread you suggested, if you don't mind I'll pass on your very generous offer..... 
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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?
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| paulio wrote: |
| Sleipnir, start a thread entitled "Which is better: La Rosiere or Scotland" and the world will probably end or something. |
Well actually we did something like that after we got back from Cairngorm & Nevis back in January, IIRC a "10 reasons why skiing in Scotland is better than skiing in France", did we not revive it after Easter at Nevis paulio?
I seem to recall pubs/Beer, curry and fish & chips figured quite highly 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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If there is a moderator around can I suggest merging this thread with where to ski in the summer?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| T Bar wrote: |
| If there is a moderator around can I suggest merging this thread with where to ski in the summer? |
Can I un-suggest that...
... the posts on skiing in Scotland should be moved but the thread and posts with info/discussion on snowpatches left as a separate thread IMHO.
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roga,
Sorry, shoulld have included a smiley,was said in jest. I think it unlikely that Scotlands summer snow patches are going to attract large volumes of summer skiers.
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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.
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SkiRabbit, You can normally ski in England most years
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There's not much to add to what's been said already. Skiing in Scotland is, in general, not as good as skiing in the Alps (in general). But you can have great days in Scotland (and lousy days in the Alps). For Scottish skiing (if you're travelling a long way to get it), it is worth checking the conditions and making sure there are enough runs to make it interesting.
The last time I skied in Scotland was February 2002, when I made a "Grand Tour" to celebrate the 40th anniversary of my first ski day at Glenshee. Conditions were pretty terrible, narrow runs and icy (but you could get pie and beans for lunch, which you don't find in the Alps ). I enjoyed it but I was in a nostalgic mood. My friend who fell on ice and ended up with stitches in her head maybe wasn't so enthusiastic.
But, as I say, with the right conditions, it can be great. And it's always fun! (Well, almost always)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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espri,
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| but you could get pie and beans for lunch, which you don't find in the Alps |
That's certainly one argument in Scotlands favour! Wiener Schnitzel, Gulaschsuppe, Kaiserschmarren & Weissbier vs Pie and beans. No contest!
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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.
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| chrisb wrote: |
| SkiRabbit, You can normally ski in England most years |
Milton Keynes, Manchester, Tamworth.................................
All pretty much year round skiing.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Boris wrote: |
Milton Keynes, Manchester, Tamworth.................................
All pretty much year round skiing. |
The romance of it!
And it's such a bargain too.
Not.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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roga, those photos are well good and i bet you mad a hell of a better time than anyone at manchester chill factore Boris, not a fan of indoor snow
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Poster: A snowHead
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A glacier is nothing more than eternal snow.
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brian
brian
Guest
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James the Last, not true. A glacier is a moving mass of ice formed from compacted layers of snow.
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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?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| brian wrote: |
| James the Last, not true. A glacier is a moving mass of ice formed from compacted layers of snow. |
Indeed. Sorry, that was intended to be an ironic comment based on the "Oh I dunno, I bet the various glaciers on the continent are quaking in their boots" observation. OTOH, were glaciation to recommence, these would very likely be the places where glaciers would start.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| James the Last wrote: |
| Indeed. Sorry, that was intended to be an ironic comment based on the "Oh I dunno, I bet the various glaciers on the continent are quaking in their boots" observation. |
Which was my silly comment
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| OTOH, were glaciation to recommence, these would very likely be the places where glaciers would start. |
Yes, I believe there are some suggestions that there was glaciation in Scotland during the 'little ice age' which apparently lasted from the 1500s up to the early 1800s (I thought there was a bit on this in the Wikipedia page but it doesn't seem to be there now?).
Of course the shape of the Scottish mountains are the result of ancient glaciation, they were once far, far larger but some of them are up to 10 times older than the Alps (450 million years as opposed to 45 million IIRC) and were ground down over millenia to the shape we see today, in fact some of the rocks seen in the Scottish highlands are amongst the oldest in the world. I think some of the mountains geologically are a part of the same range of mountains as the Scandinavian mountain range in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oh roga, I thought you were being serious...
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FAQ
) but if you don't try it you won't know - just don't book far ahead, particularly outside of March/early April.
