Icy Crusts and Sliding Hares.
29th December 2023
A nice settled winter’s day. The hills are looking a lot whiter than a few days ago. A crust on the surface of the snowpack at an altitude of between about 700 and 1000 metres made for some hard going on foot. Looks like all change tomorrow with the next storm system bringing strong winds and some snow. The morning might okay, so am hoping to be up and down before things get too wild in the afternoon.
Mountain hare tracks going to a slide. I am not sure if this was deliberate slide, or for fun. I know that other mammals, such as otters, go for a slide on snow for fun. Humans (at least some humans) will pay a fair bit of money to have boards strapped to their feet to slide around (hence the ski area and the snow fence in the background). However, I am not sure about mountain hares. If anyone reading this knows anything more, I would be interested in your comments.
The view looking up the Goose ski run. A fair covering of snow. A breakable crust at this level made for pretty hard going at this level.
The view over to Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis beyond.
This was about as clear as it got on the summit plateau of Aonach Mor during the time I was up there. It did clear later in the afternoon.
Although not big yet there are some cornices starting to form.
The top of Easy Gully. A shallow crown wall can be seen running along close to the shadow line on the other side of the gully. This most likely released last night during some heavy snow showers.
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