Bitterly cold and sunny day 2

11th February 2021

Covid -19
The Scottish Avalanche Information Service issues information to support permitted activity under current Scottish Government guidance.
Please be aware of current mandatory travel restrictions in Local Authority areas within Scotland and respect local communities by referring to Scottish Government guidance and safe route choices for exercise. For further guidance please refer to the following information for hillwalkers and climbers and snowsports on ski and board.
This blog is intended to provide hazard and mountain condition information to help plan safer mountain trips.

Very cold and sunny with lows of -17C to -20C in the glen; however it felt pleasantly warm in the sunshine at -5C!

Weak layers persist at depth within the snowpack, but these are mostly protected and bridged by hard windslab.
Skiers and climbers can trigger this layer where the hard slab becomes thinner especially at the top of convexities.
The snowpack surface also has a widespread cover of flat smooth crystals called “surface hoar” down to glen levels.  These create a smooth sliding surface when buried by new windslab.
See Northern Cairngorms avalanche report for more details.

An arctic landscape.

Loose grains within the snowpack creating weaknesses which are bridged by hard windslab.

Interesting crystals have formed on top of a small exposed bog at 650m.

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