skifreak

1994 was a huge snow year esp for the West, but the Western Areas were also affected by high winds esp in the depths of Winter. So much snow fell in 1994 that Glencoe's upper lifts didn't operate for the bulk of the winter as they were completely burried, repeated attempts to dig them out including airlifting JCB's up the mountain proved fruitless as each time the wind got up and filled it all back in again. Glencoe finally got the Top tows dug out and functioning for the Mayday weekend in 1994 - see attached image of the Top T-bar (you should not be able to reach the cable even with a tip of your ski stick held up by an outstreached arm at its lowest point, in this photo the sheave assemblies on the towers were below waist height and that was after digging out!) Glencoe traditionally shut after the Mayday Monday and would re-open the Access Chair for summer sightseers in June. In 1994 Glencoe re-opened for snowsports on Saturday 28th May - but the season came to a premature end a couple of weeks later when the gearbox on the Access Chair packed in! 1994 also stands out as the high water mark for CairnGorm Mountain notching up 425,000 skier days.

Better than last year on CairnGorm, and miles ahead for the Western resorts. This stage last year Glencoe and Nevis Range were still to open at all. Nevis has a pretty good base on the Goose and Summit areas, and there is stacks in the back corries. Glencoe's upper runs and the natural gullies and snowfileds on the mid-mountain are loaded. These take a long time to fill properly, and it's been a long time since Glencoe has had such an extensive and good base in January, this base has gradually being built up through snow/thaw/freeze cycling since late November, which meant when Glencoe kicked off their season earlier this month, they did so by offering up the best conditions in the country on day one. Looking at CairnGorm last January was cold and dry, there was no snowsports since before Christmas till the 28th of Jan 2006, there was just short of being enough snow at the Top and conditions didn't change for better or worse for six weeks. The little bit of snow that finally allowed skiing to get underway again at the end of Jan 2006 actually fell from the cloud layer trapped under an inversion!! http://www.winterhighland.info/pix/display...&height=510 ^Link to photo of Coire Cas on 28th Jan 2006 (This forum tells me it cant be a valid image!) http://www.winterhighland.info/forum/file.php?2,file=1664 ^Link to photo of Coire Cas on 29th Jan 2007 - decent width and a good base.

Went for a butchers up the 'Gorm on what turned out to be a sunny and pleasent afternoon, with good granular spring snow for ripping up on Coire Cas. ^ Boarders preparing for the last run of the day as the final rays of afternoon sun hit the Ptarmigan Roof. More: http://www.winterhighland.info/pix/pixalbum.php?pix_id=293

Here's a stack of pics from Glencoe on Wednesday: http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/pix/pi....php?pix_id=286

I think you call this a bluebird powder day: Nevis Range - Monday 22nd Jan 06

Hmm yea, just when you might actually need to use TrafficScotland, they delete the site because of the volume of traffic hitting it.

Never mind drumochter, there was a white blob on the rain radar pretty much over Glencoe an hour ago!!! Bring it on!

Despite the roller coaster we're up quite a bit on where we were the middle of last week, width of the base on the Top runs at CairnGorm is much improved and the Upper Cas has fairly decent cover and it's possible to ski to the middle station. Saturday was a real left trouser leger in more ways than one, really looked set for the season to really kick on and build on Thursday/Fridays snow/thaw/freeze cycle, so the fact we got an inch of rain instead of snow was a bit of a bummer! Out West there's a good base on the natural snow fields and gullies that form the main upper runs, like Goose Gully at Nevis. Getting that base is more than half the battle, if the weather delivers what the models suggest then If theres any more rain though my new address will be somewhere floating in the Moray Firth!

Todays snow was indeed heavy, it was also liquid form! Groan! Wild and wet, skiing was restricted to the top of the mountain by high winds (yes go figure :blush: ) with only the Ptarmigan Tow running for skiers, mid morning through lunchtime even the funicular was closed by the wind, steady 85mph at the tunnel mouth. Leaving us with nothing to do, but lap the Ptarmigan Tow in horizontal rain, at least it was a tail wind, excellent fast carving !! Oh and by the way, at the tunnel mouth on the Funicular Railway at 3500ft on Friday the wind reached 176 (One Hundred and Seventy Six) MPH equalling the all time UK record....

--> QUOTE(Ross B @ 12 Jan 2007, 02:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The snows going quick http://www.cairngormmountain.com/ Top up over the weekend though hopefuly. :lol: at the gorm taking a hammering posts all over the net!! Vast tracts of the mountain had less coverage than you would expect from a decent frost thanks to the strength of the wind. 90% of the snow that fell is on about 10% of the mountain. The largely cosmetic cover vanished quickly on Friday morning, but real gains have been made. Something of a base has been put down on the M1 and White Lady, various burn (thats a stream do you down South :lol: ) courses such as the Lady and Cas, plus the Cas Gunbarrel have filled in. That snow has now gone through a complete thaw/freeze cycle so there has already been a gain in base in some of the most key areas. Fresh snow expected tomorrow and sunday. Will be skiing to the Mid Station with the Cas Tow and Funicular serving the middle runs, and top two tows for the top. M1 Poma track was there or there abouts and maybe possible if demand.

Is everyone to busy looking at T+384? Right now something rather interesting is going on, take a look at the Rain Radar and the Western Highlands. Except it's only rain at low levels, red returns over the Nevis Range mountains and a temperature at 3700ft of -4c on Aonach Mor suggest that it's absolutely puking!!! The precipitation is edging into the Western fringes of the 'Gorms now, and if you take a look at the Drumochter webcam on Traffic Scotland, it is a sight to warm your hearts! http://www.trafficscotland.org/views.asp?m...ralscotland.gif At the moment it is -7c on the summit of CairnGorm Mountain and over at the Lecht (sadly the webcam doesnt update at night) the snow guns are blazing a base in preperation for the arrival of what is currently out west. Keep up the snow dances!!

Am hoping that CairnGorm Mountain will do mid station stops on the Funicular tomorrow and allow us out to ski Coire Cas.

Going to be horrendous conditions on the mountains over the New Year period. Wind was a sustained 85mph at the Tunnel of the Funicular on CairnGorm this morning! Sounds like one of those days someone is going to come out of the Daylodge and find their car upside down! (seriously it happens...)

Had a butchers up CairnGorm Mountain on Saturday afternoon, with a firm base even with the limited snow fortunately didn't butcher my skis! Had the good skis out on each of the five days I've had this season on the 'Gorm and not a scratch as yet. Only limited terrain in the Top Basin on Saturday, the Funicular wasn't doing mid-station stops as the Cas Gunbarrel was deemed to icy to be safe for skiing back to the mid-station (rumour has it a member of ski patrol wiped out and landed in the Cas burn earlier in the day!! ). More photos and a report at: http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/pix/pi....php?pix_id=268 Runs are narrow and the Ptarmigan Bowl only has a narrow track of snow that's been bashed out across the grass, but it sure wasn't thawing on Saturday, despite the temperature inversion and a reported temperature of +8[c] the snow and ground remained bomb proof, baffled quite a lot of the tourists as it didnt even feel cold!

Alrighty, third weekend of the season for CairnGorm Mountain and they are now open daily for snowsports weather permitting. View from the top of the Ptarmigan Tow late morning on Sunday 17th Dec: More: http://www.winterhighland.info/2006/pix/pi....php?pix_id=266

CairnGorm Mountain finally has wind speeds low enough to stand up in, and snowsports are underway again in the Top Basin today.

What remains after the monsoon - looking up Aonach Mor this morning where Goose Gully retains a good base and the upper Goose could be a goer for the weekend - snowshowers expected today and tomorrow, decision will depend on how the forecast pans out - due to re-open full time next weekend.

Webcam is in the same place but zoomed right in on the centre of the image above. On the zoomed in image the two Top lifts can be seen going off the top of the image (centre), they follow a natural snowholding gully, and to the right is the foot of the Main Basin. Stormforce winds will have helped drive snow into these areas to a depth well beyond that which actually fell. Open areas would have been largely scoured clear with just a cosmetic covering if that, which is now vanishing in the thaw. Torrential Rain and +9c at 2000ft equates to rapid thaw conditions, but there's already a consolidated base in those gullies under the recent accumulations. It may be hard to believe but these violent storm cycles are as much friend as they are foe, this is the point where those that can get there heads around Scottish skiing sit and wait, hoping that the cycle completes itself quickly enough so that when the colder temps return, overall there has been a net gain in the consolidated base through the cycle. 3/4 of the snow that fell may go, but it's the extra 1/4 thats survived and added to the base that matters.

New Webcam Alert! :lol: Live Image: http://glencoerouter.dyndns.org/netcam.jpg There is a semi-streaming cam feed which updates every couple of seconds also available. Please visit the Glencoe website at http://www.glencoemountain.com for it.

Fresh snow coming in during the showers, and -5[c] at the top of CairnGorm this morning. Despite the savage thaw conditions later Sunday, a base remains in the Top Basin runs and its the wind preventing anything other than the funicular running at present, currently 75mph at the tunnel mouth of the funicular. BTW that has the windchill nudging into the sub -30c 'Exposed Flesh Freezes' category!

Indeed, for long spells of 2001 the A9 between Aviemore and Inveness was banked up with snow at the sides. After an unusually dry but cold yet windy January the following 3months of Feb, March and April delivered a classic seasson for Scottish Snowsports. For those that go on about 2001 being mild and snowless, I love to dig out this: The Traverse, Coire Cas, CairnGorm Mountain - May 2001!

If temperatures don't reach -10c in the UK this winter then that would be news! *yawn*

If we dont have a cold snowy winter my business suffers bud. If we have a mildest on record an entire industry could be down the pan by March...

Winters like 2001... bring it on! The Traverse, CairnGorm Mountain, May 2001.