A testing day.
16th February 2016
It was a wild day on Ben Nevis today. Although windy, conditions were relatively dry when I first arrived. However, they very soon deteriorated. At my high point of about about 750 metres, it felt like I was being sprayed by a high pressure slush gun. Myself and my equipment got covered in a layer of slush which would slowly melt, making it quite a challenging day for the waterproofs. As well as being rather damp, with the strong and gusty wind, the hazard of injury by being blown over or into boulders felt very real.
There was also a fair bit of avalanche activity. There was a substantial (size 3) natural avalanche in Number 5 gully, and a team getting avalanched and carried 200 metres down in Coire na Ciste, all while I was on the on the hill. There was probably many more avalanches, deteriorating visibility prevented me from recording them. All in all a rather testing day on the hill.
Looking out the window of the CIC hut, not too appealing.
Snow saw and avalanche probe covered in a layer of slush. I was covered in a similar layer.
The Douglas Boulder and The Minus Face when I first arrived. Conditions deteriorated significantly soon after this picture was taken.
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