Views and Sunshine (finally)
1st February 2026
Today was a day of contrasts. Leaving the Coire Cas ski carpark in the mizzly rain and low cloud early morning did not bode well. However by early afternoon, the tops cleared, blue sky and sunshine appeared and it was almost calm. A real bonus after the ‘battering’ and poor visibility which this prolonged spell of South-Easterly winds have delivered of late to the Northern Cairngorms region.
The freezing level rose to around 1000m today, this combined with only a very small amount of new precipitation and much lighter winds has had a positive, stabilising effect on the snowpack. Below around 950m the snowpack was moist and consolidating well, diminishing visibly at lower elevations. The plateau areas are well rimed with a breakable crust, interspersed with firmer/icier sections depending on aspect. The remaining windslab is moderately bonded and remains a hazard in localised places on South-West through North to North-East aspects above 950m Areas mainly affected are corrie headwalls, the leeward side of ridge crests and gully lines.
Photos below will give the reader a flavour of conditions today:
A busy day heading into Coire an’t Sneachda this morning. Multiple rescue teams, climbers and winter skills groups. The snow pack here around 700m was moist and consolidating well.
This is a really poor photo, taken from the edge of the boulder field on the corrie floor of Coire an’t Sneachda. From what I saw of the crag aprons below the start of the routes, there is certainly plenty of coverage. These areas around 900-1000m will have been slowly consolidating today.
Ascending the Cas ridge around 1050m. The snow coverage was excellent, the vis not so….
A glimpse of better things to come. Photo taken near 1141m spot height at top of the Cas Ridge. Plateau snow coverage was ‘interesting’ on ski. Heavy riming, breakable crust…. you get the picture.
Spectacular heavy rimming on the Igloo building, summit of Cairngorm.
Descending into the ski area, the cloud lifted and the sun came out. There is very good coverage on these northern aspects.
The hill cleared. Looking up into Coire Cas. The temperature early afternoon in the Cas Car park at 635m was +6 degrees.
A view of the west aspect of the Feshie Hills. Photo thanks go to one of our SAIS forecasters who was enjoying a ski tour on their day off. For those planning touring from Glen Feshie there is a ‘beefy’ walk to get to the snow line.
Comments on this post
Got something to say? Leave a comment
