Not much change
18th January 2026
A generally settled day in Lochaber although with a gusty South or South-Easterly wind. The cloud never quite cleared from the highest tops. The snowpack is very slowly consolidating, but otherwise not a great deal of change over the weekend. Some pictures from Ben Nevis below.
Carn Dearg Buttress.
The area around the minus face through to Point Five Gully. The crags are looking pretty white. Climbing wise this is likely to be unhelpful snow rather than ice. However, a good plastering of snow is the first stage in the ice routes on this part of the mountain coming into good condition.
Snow wheels at an altitude of about 850 metre. These are caused by small patches of wet sticky snow sluffing off some steep terrain and rolling down the hill picking up more snow as they go. They form in mild conditions. These ones likely formed yesterday when the freezing level rose a bit. It cooled down overnight, freezing these snow wheels and forming a slight crust on the snowpack.
Hard going in deep snow. Fortunately a few teams had been up the hill earlier this morning, and I was able to make use of their tracks (which was very much appreciated).
Looking over to the South Side of Coire na Ciste. Some avalanche debris from last Thursday is just about visible below Number 2 Gully.
Looking up towards Number Three Gully. The lack of sharpness at the back of Number Three Gully at the base of the crags to the right is due to drifting snow. There was a gusty wind in the Coire, at times it was still and at other times there was strong cold wind that cause some drifting.
Looking over to West face of Carn Mor Dearg which looks to be holding plenty of snow. The cloud on the summit stayed around all day.
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