Softening Snow…
13th December 2025
In contrast to yesterday, today’s snow rapidly softened as the day went on. But the real headline was that of the wind speeds, with gale to storm force south-westerlies in the Northern Cairngorms. These winds resulted in strong downslope gusts under which the Coire Cas car park was quite inhospitable.
A trace of snow fell above 1000 metres overnight, but this quickly melted and became moist with next to no evidence of isolated windslab development. This was almost certainly present, but thawed quickly. The avalanche hazard will remain Low, with the greatest snow confined to coire back walls and ridge flanks above 1000 metres.
The sun was notable by its absence today. But these new brightly coloured marker poles made for a suitably bright image. They are just waiting to be deployed with the next significant snow fall…!
The view towards Coire an Lochain. The remaining snow can be seen here above 1000 metres in the back of the coire and on ridge flanks. Note the windward facing slopes of the Fiacaill Ridge (just left of centre), these being devoid of snow cover due to recent wind and rain.
The Reindeer herd have been in and around the ski area for the last week or so. This is a stock image, as they had wisely sought shelter today. I included this today because I learnt an excellent reindeer fact. Did you know that reindeer are the only mammals that can see ultraviolet light?…
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