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 Today quickly deteriorated into a rather rugged experience on the west coast hills. The Gondola at Nevis Range closed down fairly quickly due to gale force winds. As I post this report, blizzards are sweeping across Scotland, dampening the Hogmanay celebrations. Sounds like a good cue for another dram and put my feet up for a couple of days. Cold weather on the mountains is forecast, which will further add to the good base which has built up over the last week. Teams out on Ben Nevis today reported more ice building in various locations. Best wishes for the new year. We have space at the bunkhouse from next Sunday.
 Fantastic weather conditions today, but the snow on Ben Nevis North Face is bottomless dry 'crud'. We backed off of Tower Ridge low down rather than finish (?) in the dark. Some teams climbed Ledge Route and made reasonable progress, but others on Castle Ridge appeared to be going fairly slowly. Quite a few people out on Carn Mor Dearg Arete making progress.
 Great day, lots of sunshine and very little wind. Loads of deep unconsolidated snow. Teams out on Aonach Mor East and West. also Dorsal Arete in Glen Coe. All had a great day, but had to work hard to make progress. Tomorrow looks similar, before a possible Atlantic front moves over the area.
Substantial falls of snow down to 400 metres overnight will make the going very hard work everywhere. Gullies should be avoided in favour of ridges and buttresses, and try to avoid deep deposits en-route to any climbs. We now need 24 hours of thaw to sort out the snow-pack, followed by another good freeze. The forecast suggests more cold weather in the next few days, so trail-blazing will be the order of the day. Pick a popular ridge and try not to be in front until near the top!! Start very early and don't forget the headtorch.
Plenty of new snow overnight lying down to 400metres. This will almost certainly be deep and unstable in the gullies and hard-going on the ridges. More cold weather to come with plenty of wintry showers on the tops.
 Very wet and mild all day and raining on the tops. This will result in a lot of snow disappearing, but hopefully some colder weather to come later in the week will consolidate what's left. Not a 'White Christmas' for Fort William, but maybe for the summits!
 Snow lying at all levels today with blizzard conditions in Fort William High St! Mild weather will spread from the west tomorrow, which should remove and consolidate some of the snow pack. The week ahead shows unsettled conditions with strong winds and wintry weather on the high tops. This is good for the long-term winter prospects, but not great for Christmas climbers. Beware of avalanches and stay on the ridges and buttresses if you can.
 Snowing down to 300 metres with sleet at sea level. Not a nice day at all, but good for laying down a base at higher levels for later on. An avalanche caught some climbers out in No 2 Gully on Ben Nevis today. Fortunately, not bad badly injured I believe.
 Fine day today and all the snow which remains is 'bomb-proof'. Plenty of ice on the Little Brenva Face and Number Two Gully looks okay if a little thin. Lots of other places to climb so long as you use your imagination.! Tower Ridge looking black from beneath, but has plenty of snow on the ledges when viewed from the summit. Nevis Range is running this weekend if not too windy and the forecast is for plenty of new snow, especially in the east, although the west coast will get a top-up before the winds swing into the North.
Reports form Ben Nevis over the weekend suggest good hard snow from the lochan in Coire na ciste and up the easy gullies 2-3 and 4. No sign of anyone on Green Gully and the like but it has some snow in it. The higher ridges will also have some decent snow on them no doubt. New snow down below 900 metres and a cold, showery and wintry airstream just now will maintain the current reasonable if thin conditions. Aonach Mor west and east will be worth a visit if you don't mind walking up as the gondola is shut for general maintenance. The walk-in to the east or west face usually takes around 2-3 hrs from the Nevis Range car park. All the original climbs were made from valley base so get yourselves up there folks!
Unsettled and wintry just now. Guests at Calluna were up on Ben Nevis yesterday and reported horizontal sleet at the CIC Hut, verglas on the rocks in Coire na Ciste, good snow in Number 3 Gully with water ice at the top of the gully. Most of the lower cliffs were black though. At the moment we have blizzards on the tops with more to come and more settled weather forecast later on Sunday.
Some snow left on Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor high up. We have had a couple of mild wet days which has stripped back quite a lot of snow. The weekend looks unsettled but wintry, so we should get back some snow cover.
Very heavy frost last night and the weather is clear and settled at the moment. All snow and ice will almost certainly be solid.
I have been away for the weekend, but some people staying with us said the snow was rock-hard on Ben Nevis. They were out walking on the south side and some climbers in No 3/4 & 5 Gullies reported similar hard snow conditions. . We have certainly had some very heavy frosts overnight, which will have firmed up anything which is left. The snow on the mountain path was hard from about the 900 metre mark and the summit area had full coverage.
 Slightly milder weather has melted off some of the snow, but frosts overnight will no doubt consolidate the snow pack a wee bit. Settled and fine weather today.
Climbers staying with us and ascending Curved Ridge in Glen Coe today reported very little snow on that route until the very top. It has become milder in the last 24 hours, which will strip some of the snow, but also consolidate what is left if temperatures fall. The forecast is that settled weather should dominate the next few days, but not very cold.
 Fine dry cold weather and lots of very deep unconsolidated snow up to your waist in places. The big icy "snottier" which drains between Route Major and NE Buttress is starting to form and is close on half-way to touching down. The Curtain is not formed and no reports on anything being climbed, although a line of steps were seen entering Observatory Gully . My guess is that a good thaw is needed before anything starts to firm up. Some sport can be had on Moonlight Gully Buttress in these conditions, but go prepared to swim a little! Much of the turf will be covered by soft new snow and not of good quality for climbing. Tower Ridge might be worth a look, 'mob-handed' with plenty of people prepared to break trail. Anyway it's a good base to start with, so keep your fingers crossed for a few freeze-thaw weather systems. The forecast for the week ahead looks good.
Here you will find an archive of other years
winter climbing conditions.
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28th December