Lochaber Blog & Mountain Info

The top of Coire an Lochan and summit ski patrol hut today.  Notice the tall post on the right, how far back from the edge it is. 

A similar view in summer. This was taken a few years ago, so some of the pots in the picture have now gone. But the tall one of the right is still there, but notice how close to the change in the slope angle that is, and compare to the previous picture. Gives you an idea how much snow builds up at the top of these gullies.

The same shot taken on the 17th of March 2020, the last day I was on Aonach Mor before the lockdown began. Although almost a month earlier in the spring,  from what remember about the weather during late March and early April, the amount of snow would not have changed significantly from then until this time last year. It is clear there is a fair amount more snow last year. 

The South side of Coire an Lochan today. 

The South side of Coire an Lochan in summer. You can the the two snowpatches that lie long into the summer and sometimes (like last year) survive throughout the summer to be buried by the following winter’s snow. The lower one especially sits in a deep hollow. You can get an idea of the depth of snow by comparing the location exposed rocks on the bulge above this snowpatch with the previous photo.

A similar shot on the 17th of March 2020, clearly lots more snow. 

The top of Easy Gully today. 

The top of Easy gully during a rare summer ascent (not the finest summer route in Lochaber!). Again you can get an idea of snow depth by how much the obvious rocky rib in buried in the winter pictures. 

The top of Easy Gully on the 17th of March 2020. Excuse the fact the right hand side of the gully is a bit over exposed, but you can see that the rock rib so evident in summer is almost totally buried.