Ben Nevis, tops of gullies and mountain path
4th January 2026
Today’s observations were from the mountain path and the tops of gullies and coire rims on Ben Nevis. The mountain path on Ben Nevis had snow from the start. The path had compact snow lower down, with some drifts across the path particularly at higher elevations where in some places the line of the path was hard to see. During snow showers visibility was particulalry poor and good navigational skills were required. At higher elevations on Ben Nevis there was drifting during the day, although close to the North face the direction seemed more variable than expected with snow blowing in many different directions. The conditions on Ben Nevis seemed different to Aonoach Mor yesterday with localised winds having put less snow into some gullies and coire rims than expected and less cornices present than on Aonach Mor. However there is certainly plenty soft snow moving about and very localised areas of windslab will exist in wind sheltered locations on many aspects. As winds return close to our prevailing direction towards the end of the day tomorrow additional snow may to move onto North-East and East aspects, there is certainly a lot of snow on the plateau areas close to the tops of gullies and coire rims ready to move. The prevailing wind direction (the winds direction we most regularly get) is South Westerly and the wind effect is far more predictable from this direction.
Looking across the top of number 3 gully Ben Nevis
Looking North at Creag Coire na Ciste
The top of number 4 gully, Ben Nevis
Looking South at Creag Coire na Ciste taken from near the top of Number 4 Gully, Ben Nevis
Looking North from the top of number 4 Gully, Ben Nevis
Douglas Boulder, Ben Nevis
The mountain path not very obvious after drifting in poor visibility.
Drifts at mid elevation on the mountain path on Ben Nevis.
Snow to low levels on Ben Nevis today, the mountain path can be seen in the light area in the distance.
Top of Easy Gully (east facing) Aonach Mor today. Much more snow here and more cornices than similar locations on Ben Nevis.
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