These are posted as and when I have the time or information. Climbers are welcome to let me know what they find anywhere in Scotland, and I will try and post this information also. Links to other relevant sites are at the top and foot of this page. Important links as follows:

Still Snow on Ben Nevis

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Thanks to Blair Fyffe for these two pictures.

Hi Alan, thanks for the note.

As you may or may not be aware (due to your sojourn to the Alps!), the amount of snow still present at the start of June on Ben Nevis was substantial: the most for a number of years by all accounts. The situation persisted through June, with good photographs from contributors keeping us well appraised of the conditions. Indeed, there was fresh Snow on Nevis on the 20th(?) of June (if I remember correctly), and fresh snow on Braeriach (and doubtless MacDui, too) a couple of days after that.

We carried out a survey from Glenshee on the 1st July and agreed the situation was as good as it's been (in terms of snow remaining) for quite a few years. Unfortunately, mid-July onwards was very very warm, with the dreaded "hairdryer" winds and incessant rain (towards the end of the month) putting a very substantial dent in the patches at Nevis/Aonachs. So much so, in fact, that Aonach Mor - despite having larger deposits than last year - is now in worse nick than it was this time last year.

The Cairngorms are fairing altogether better, however, and I intend to go there on the weekend of the Bank Holiday. Indeed, I shall be doing Nevis/Aonachs with a fellow called Mark Atkinson (Fort William) who is a keen contributor, and possibly Blair Fyffe. If you are around that weekend then I would very much like to meet you.

Regards,

Iain

And from Blair Fyffe:

Iain,
I was up the Ben the other day (Tuesday the 5th), and took some pictures of the snow patches in Observatory gully. Find then attached. There were a some patches left in the Ciste, the biggest one being below Two step corner area. There was also a patch below Zero Gully, Orion Face, but that is starting to look quite thin. Will last another fortnight at a guess. In Observatory Gully there was a patch below Point 5 gully, that was maybe 40m across and 30m up-down. However it will soon split into two as there is a tunnel going underneath it (seen in one of the pictures). Also there is still a large amount of snow up around the Tower Scoop area.
Hope that helps
Blair