Hi Alan

Yesterday I walked from Moy, over An Cearcallach and round the plateau, up to the summit of Meagaidh, then down the Window and out along the Coire Ardair path. The weather was very sunny and mostly still, with a bit of hazy cloud towards the Nevis range, and completely clear looking eastwards.

On the basis of the forecast (3C at 900m) I thought I could do without my crampons, and this was more or less right, but there was one bit--the slope below the Window on the way down to the lochan--where I could have gone faster and less cautiously (and less on my backside) if I'd had them. There were other patches of white ice here and there on the plateau, but nothing you couldn't walk round-- most of the snow was crust or powder, very pleasant going underfoot.

There is a lot of snow above about 800m, nothing at all below that. There's been a lot of avalanche activity on the Inner Face, but there are some big new cornices forming too. Raeburn's Buttress is pretty well bare on the face facing the lochan, but the Post Face is forming quite well, with a lot of water ice even low down. If I'd been there winter climbing today, I think the Inner Face would have been the best bet. But looking at the forecast everything may change soon anyway...

Oh, and I saw something I've never seen before. As I was walking across the plateau from An Cearcallach towards Meall Coire Choille-Rais, the sun was shining brightly on me from above, and was also reflected in Loch Laggan below me. So I could see two shadows of myself on the snow, a ten-foot one cast by the sun in the sky, and a fifty-foot one cast by the sun in the loch. Uncanny, and rather beautiful.

Best
Tim


Thanks Tim,

I'm pretty sure that conditions in various locations must be quite good. A couple of friends did The Hoarmaster in Coire an Lochain yesterday and found it quite difficult!