Not much snow, some sheep.

2nd January 2017

I had a wander up to just below the Douglas Boulder on Ben Nevis today. It was quite a pleasant day with light winds and a freezing level of around 700 meters. As you will see in the pictures there is not a great deal of snow and ice on the Ben at the moment. There were also a number of sheep wandering around at an altitude of about 750 meters, never a great sign of great winter conditions!

Carn Dearg Buttress. A little old hard snow in the gullies and some streaks of water ice forming

Very little ice on the Orion Face/Point Five Gully side of the North Face.

A bit more snow at the back of Coire na Ciste. Looks like Number 3 and Number 4 gullies are complete.

At an altitude of about 800 metres I found the top 15cm or so of the snowpack to be frozen solid. Under this it was still quite soft and damp. A snow saw was an essential tool in getting through the surface layers.

Sheep at 800 meters. Not a good sign for winter conditions! 

Comments on this post

  • Coleen
    3rd January 2017 8:53 pm

    An attractive pair of sheep.

  • Ginny
    5th January 2017 8:48 pm

    Love the photos especially the sheep.
    Long walk they had for bit of rough grazing !

    • lochaberadmin
      8th January 2017 1:58 pm

      Glad you enjoyed the sheep pictures. I have seen them in that area a few times this winter, I suspect they will be “in-situ” until the weather turns a bit more wintry.

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