Braeriach and Airspeed Oxford HM724
3rd March 2026
As expected the snow was very firm today, icy even on the wind blasted upper slopes of Braeriach. Such firm and icy conditions were sub optimal for travel on ski, and today’s sortie was accompanied by constant anxiety. An uncontrolled fall or slide would have been consequential to say the least.
Despite this there were many people out enjoying the brighter conditions in the afternoon. We can expect similar conditions tomorrow, with very firm and icy slopes as inversion conditions take hold with a complex layer of colder air in the glens, and the northern coires of Cairngorm.
Some drizzle and perhaps some sleet is likely at the end of the period, but this will do little to soften the snow surface.
Coire an Lochain pictured from near the Chalamain Gap.
Coire an t-Sneachda
Looking up Coire Gorm on the northern flanks of Sron na Lairige. This snow sure coire is a good way up to Braeriach, and would have been quick in crampons today.
The long north ridge of Carn a’Mhaim.
Aircraft wreckage in the bealach between Braeriach and Sron na Lairige. There are actually two crash sites here in close proximity. An RAF Airspeed Oxford which crashed on 12 October 1943 and an RAF Bristol Blenheim which crashed on the 20 April 1945. The wreckage is said to extend from Coire Beanaidh through the bealach into Coire Ruadh to the South-East. I suspect the image may be an undercarriage leg from Airspeed Oxford HM724.
The North East (Angel’s Ridge) of Sgor an Lochain Uaine.
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