 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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mountainaddict, I think the problem with Glenshee and Cairngorms could be the condition of the access road given the amount of snow we have lying around just now. Take your drinking shoes.
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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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mountainaddict, I regularly ski Cairngorm , Lecht and Glenshee. I think it is not so much the wind you can withstand but a) what blows the poma guiders off the rails preventing uplift and b) as scotia, says drifting snow that cuts road access and in fairness to snow plough drivers everywhere can fill in rapidly again just after ploughing.
Years ago I was on the Lecht when they blew the siren to warn peeps to get off the mountain quick , into their cars and down away from the blizzard hit centre. It was a struggle for many and some got stuck , so I clear off when it gets too bad. In my experience it gets very bad before the resorts abandon ski-ing if people can get there.
Years ago in my innocence I thought in a big 4WD I could get through deep snow. Err no. Car rides up on a wall of snow leading to 45 mins of digging out.
I hope however you enjoy what you find as I like ski-ing in Scotland and when there is no snow we go walking. Spectacular scenery , peace , quiet and remote.
John
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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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Even if they let you on the mountain being dragged up the hill in the face of a stinging gale isn't much fun.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Even if they let you on the mountain being dragged up the hill in the face of a stinging gale isn't much fun.
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Or skiing into it......eg barely moving down the White Lady & trying to convince yourself that you are having fun and it was worth a 600 mile round trip.... 
Anyway, we're cheered by the news that Yad Moss is open tomorrow and Weardale was open today - we will make do with them if they are open, as both are about 75 mins away (as opposd to 5 hours).
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Have fun 
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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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barry, I have vivid memories of waiting for clearance to leave Cairngorm one day that the mountain was evacuated a couple of years ago and the unique rocking sensation as our car was blown sideways across the icy Cas car park by a few inches with each violent gust.
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80mph is the limit for uplifting people by the Funicular, but overhead conditions or the road often put the brakes on things before that. But there were a couple of days last season with just the Funicular and Shuttle Bus for uplift and the whole mountain open - standing up without your planks on was well neigh impossible in the Ptarmigan Bowl, but the Ciste Gully was epic (and sheltered) all the way to the Carpark!
For the Tows and Chairlifts wind direction is almost as important as speed, surface lifts massively more prone to problems in cross winds than tail or head winds. Pomas can usually get away with operating in much higher wind speeds when their quiet than they are busy, but overall >40-45mph has potential to cause issues on the surface lifts if it's across the line. H&S has pretty much put an end to the days when fitters sit on towers in 70mph gales waiting for the next derailment! 
One thing though, correct use of the lifts in high winds is even more important, a common cause of derailment on up-lines is folk drifting out from the up-line with the wind. If everyone stays under the line it's worth a good bit more margin in terms of wind limits!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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mountainaddict, that's a shame as today was actually looking OK out east. Not bluebird but not nasty either.
For short term planning these days I almost exclusivly use the NAE. This only goes to 2 days out but is a higher resolution combined model, updated every 6 hours that merges data from lots of different supercomputer model sources. It lets you see the useful stuff like surface & upper air temperatures, surface and mile high wind direction and strength, cloud cover at different levels, precipitation intensity and type of precipitation expected (rain/snow etc). It's the base model that the Met Office tend to look to for forecasting whether it will rain or snow in Manchester tomorrow morning etc.
It's probably worth you having a click around the different fields in the NAE paramater box on the left here to suss out the next couple of days ... http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=en&MENU=0000000000&CONT=ukuk&MODELL=nae&MODELLTYP=1&BASE=-&VAR=uv85&HH=6&ARCHIV=0&ZOOM=0&PERIOD=&WMO=
Remember that under this impending Atlantic front, there is more margin for error even just a day or two out than we've grown used to under the blocked regime of late.
Edit 3.00 pm ... Maybe yours wasn't such a bad decision anyway as it looks like the mountain may have effectively closed early with the website reporting all the Ciste side lifts off due to wind & nobody visible on the WH webcams around funi middle station or WL either. From what you can see it's looking pretty bleak now.
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FAQ
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managed to withstand while on the slopes? (Cue curry and copious beer jokes 
....) I seem to recall, from previous experience, saying that about 30mph was as much as I ever wanted to endure in future.... 
Mind I think that was a headwind - so direction will be all important....
in coming days......So looks like we may not bother with the trip 
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(well 2 bacon butties and 2 teas each before bailing out! 
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