UK Outdoor Snow News

There have been some stunning conditions this week with light wind, sunshine and some nice snow in places.

All this is expected to change overnight as an Atlantic front sweeps in bringing some much needed fresh snow.

All tows will run this weekend and all runs are open other than the flypaper, Etive and Rannoch glades.

Upper mountain

The Main Basin, Spring run and East ridge are providing some great skiing in sections with some icy patches in high traffic areas. Falling snow on Saturday is expected to improve these icy sections.

Mid mountain

The wall and wall crossover were providing the best sport during the week with New Mugs Alley providing the best route down to the plateau cafe.

Lower slopes

Are thin and narrow in places but perfectly skiable and the snow forecast for Saturday is expected to improve conditions here.

The beginners rope tow is open, providing a great dedicated area for beginners.

The weather for the weekend...

Saturday - Southerly 30-40mph with some stronger gusts. Heavy snow in the morning giving way to showers later in the afternoon with some breaks in the cloud.

Sunday - Looking good with a light westerly wind (20mph) and snow showers above 500m and some bursts of sunshine.

Early next week - Light winds, occasional snow showers and a good chance of cloud free munros.

Performance training starts this week at Glencoe - this is aimed at all junior skiers and snowboarders who want to improve there performance and will provide an introduction to racing and freestyle. The plan is to develop an elite squad of racers and freestylers at Glencoe over the coming years. Snowsports Scotland and Glencoe Mountain Resort are financially supporting this initiative so sessions are only £10 per child. To kick things of for the season the first session takes place this sunday between 1pm and 3pm. Please contact ski school to book.

With the temperature dropping and looking likely to stay below freezing over the weekend, we're expecting a dusting of new snow. If you're looking to stay out of the wind, Glencoe & Nevis are probably the places to be on Saturday, but in all resorts it will still be manageable particularly on Sunday and into the beginning of next week. The snow base is still best at Glencoe, but other resorts have been snowmaking that has opened up some more runs. Snow that fell in the wind over the last week or so has drifted and you may well find some pockets of powder if you look hard.

Park

If you're looking for park features this weekend you really have a couple of options... Cairngorm has a handful of rails and boxes out on the Coire Cas, but the Ptarmigan park isn't up and running just yet. Glenshee have a good range of their awesome boxes and rails out in preparation for the Highlander Comp on Saturday which should be a great event. As yet, other resorts have either very limited or no park set up.

Backcountry

As a result of the wind, snow has been and will be blown around forming moderately bonded windslab on steeper slopes and other variable terrain. The avalanche hazard for most areas is judged to be Moderate, but you should always check the latest reports for the specific area you are riding in on the day and stay safe. More information is available on the SAIS website. www.sais.gov.uk


Glencoe

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A new Transceiver Park at Nevis Range is now open for practicing search and rescue scenarios using transceiver, shovels and probes.

The park is for all mountain users to encourage better use of avalanche transceivers. Nevis Range recommends that all skiers, boarders and mountaineers accessing any back country terrain and in particular the Nevis Range Back Corries can use a transceiver, shovel and probe.

The area for transceiver practice has transmitting units buried in the snow. They can be switched on or off from a central control box in order to enact simple single searches to multiple searches. The probing area has a variety of buried items that can be searched for using probing techniques.

The Park is located at the top of Alpha tow in the ski area, an area known for good snow cover and easily accessed on foot, ski or snowboard. Nevis Range Ski Patrol are able to provide informal help and advice at the Park. Informal and free Transceiver Park Workshops will be running throughout the winter, starting next weekend (11/2/12).

Full information is available at Nevis Range and on the website.



Transceivers, shovels and probes can now be hired at Nevis Range Equipment Hire.

The Park is free to use and a lift pass is required to access the hill. A donations box is located at the Park and funds will be used for the continued development of the Park.

All runs on the mountain have improved with continuing snowfall. Lower slopes have 2-3" of fresh fallen and windblown soft snow on a firm base. Upper slopes are in fantastic condition with 6" of fresh at the top, big pockets of soft snow on a firm base.. Fresh Tracks .. Lovely Skiing. All runs on the hill are open with the exception of Flypaper, Rannoch Glades and Etive Glades. Happy Valley still narrow at the narrows but very do-able.



With light winds, occasional snow showers and some sunshine forecast for the weekend it could be a cracker. MWIS forecasting an 80% chance of cloud free munros tomorrow.



From Andy and The Team at Glencoe Mountain.

Next weekend will see an Avalanche Training Course taking place at Cairngorm mountain above Aviemore in Scotland.

During the Winter of 2009/10, 30% of human triggered avalanches in Scotland were triggered by skiers and snowboarders.

Last season, the sportScotland Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) teamed up with Snowsport Scotland to bring practical training sessions that were tailored towards Scottish skiers and snowboarders venturing off-piste exploring slopes and gullies to take advantage of the good snow cover.

The two latest training days will be:
Saturday 21st January - Avalanche Awareness for Freeriders 1 CairnGorm Mountain
Sunday 22nd January - Avalanche Awareness for Freeriders 2 CairnGorm Mountain

For more information contact info@snowsportscotland.org or you can book onto a course online at www.snowsportscotland.org/find-a-course

Despite the recent thaw we still have some good skiing on offer and a very favourable forecast for the weekend - sunshine and light winds (can you believe it light winds!!)

Conditions report

Upper Mountain - The main Basin is in good shape with a wide cover of firm snow with small pockets of fresh drifted powder.

The Spring run and East Ridge area have a great cover of snow but are very icy so are currently closed - this will be reviewed daily. Hopefully the sunshine forecast this weekend will help soften up these runs.


Upper Mountain

Mid Mountain - Mugs Alley is complete from the top of the Cliffy down to just below the plateau cafe. This is down the line of the new snow fencing and not the main Mugs Alley Route. There are also plenty of more adventurous lines back down from the cliffy as you can see in the picture below.

The wall T-bar uptrack and run is complete with a good wide cover of snow in most places.

Thrombosis is complete for the adventurous and the wall crossover gives a route back down to the plateau cafe.


Mid Mountain

Lower mountain - The Poma uptrack is complete with a good cover of snow and the plateau run has some large patches which will allow you with a bit of grass skiing to get back down to the top of the access chair.


Lower Mountain

We can't promise Alpine snow conditions as all runs are currently very firm but with light winds and sunshine forecast we may have some Alpine weather.

Since we don't have full cover adult lift pass prices will be £25 this weekend and £20 midweek until we get more snow.

Hopefully see you on the hill this weekend.

Andy and The Team at Glencoe Mountain

The weather has been poor at best so far with just a couple of really good days, but it's not all doom and gloom. The park build has started with the "West Coast Park Project" similar to that at Glencoe last year, with a bigger crew, more resources and bigger area.

They plan to run a number of freeride events this year and are working with Snowsports Scotland to provide coaching for all the aspiring young groms.

Nevis will be putting a mini park out at the summit this weekend, so here's the plan, although this hasn't been 100% confirmed yet.




Nevis is keen to find any sponsors that would like to sponsor a feature in the park. If you can buy the materials, Nevis will take care of the fabrication and maintenance and keep it branded with the sponsor's and Nevis's logos.

The back corries still have good snow cover too as you can see from this shot taken on Tuesday.

Conditions update - 6th Jan 2012

Snow cover on the mountain is looking very good again with all runs and tow tracks complete. Current snow conditions are very mixed with most of the upper runs being wind-scoured and icy while from the rescue shed down conditions are much nicer especially where pisted.

The weather this afternoon is expected to turn much warmer with some light rain which should have the effect of softening the snow up and overnight tonight some light snow is forecast so actual snow conditions tomorrow are very difficult to predict. Ski patrol will post a report just after 8am tomorrow morning.

The weather forecast for the weekend is a real mixed bag and some of the detail isn't tied down yet so please check reports nearer the time.

Saturday - 45mph North Westerly with some stronger gusts (may ease in the afternoon). Snow showers down to 400m and some sunny spells expected. It may be worth checking the conditions update in the morning before travelling as strong winds may affect uplift.

Sunday - 20mph westerly wind in the morning but the wind is expected to increase later in the day. Freezing levels will be above the summit and at some point in the day it is expected to start raining.

Monday - Just in time for the schools to go back - light winds, sunshine and a freezing level of around 700m

Tuesday onwards - the outlook currently doesn't look great (Still time for this to change) with higher temperatures and some rain.


Looking back down towards the bottom of the Poma


Spring run is absolutely loaded but currently a little firm according to ski patrol - means icy I think!! This should change however as the temperatures rise later today.


Looking towards the plateau cafe, very good cover down the New Mugs Ally


Unfortunately another shed almost bites the dust during the last windy spell - this is the summit shed and the one that we thought was the toughest on the mountain.

CairnGorm Mountain’s famous White Lady chairlift, made a brief re-appearance last week when it’s very first passenger found herself seated on the chair again after a lapse of 50 years.

Katriona McIntyre and her brother were the first two passengers on the first chair out on the mountain above Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands on 23rd December 1961. Katriona (now Crook) returned to the ski resort for the 50th anniversary. The resort had also invited over 70 of the resort’s ‘super seniors’ – snowsports season ticket holders aged 75 or over, many of whom are still skiing – to the reunion.

The White Lady chairlift, the first mechanised uplift on the mountain and reputed to be the world’s first detachable chairlift was inaugurated 50 years ago to the day. The trip to the top on the chairlift took 40 chilly minutes back in the 60s, a journey which now takes only six minutes in the funicular railway which replaced the chairlift exactly 10 years ago and which by coincidence clocked up its 100,000th journey today.

The chairlift seated two people per chair but riders ascended at a sideways angle of 90 degrees from the slope rather than facing the slopes as is commonly the case today and the chairlift support bar divided the two seats.

Guests at the event enjoyed a buffet with a contemporary twist on the traditional fare which bolstered skiing enthusiasts in the early years, including miniature Sheiling pies, fried (quails’) egg rolls and chips in newspaper pokes (the Christmas edition of the local paper, the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald of 1961). A double cake comprising two funicular coaches was cut by Chrissie Clyde whose late husband Bob Clyde was the first manager of the Cairngorm Chairlift Company and by intrepid pioneer of Scottish skiing, Myrtle Simpson.

Guests also had the opportunity to sample ‘White Lady’ wheat beer specially bottled in a limited commemorative edition by Cairngorm Brewery. The super seniors recorded their memories and stories of the early days on video and on the local radio station Moray Firth Radio who were broadcasting live from the mountain.

Commenting on the day, CairnGorm Mountain Chief Executive Ian Whitaker said:

“I would like to acknowledge the huge achievement of those who had the vision to install the first chair from the middle to the top of the mountain which heralded the arrival of European style skiing at CairnGorm and led to the development of the Strathspey area as a whole and its long standing association with winter sports. The passion for skiing and now also for snowboarding is as strong today as back in the early days. CairnGorm has seen its fair share of ups and downs from the huge numbers of skiers in the 70s and 80s to the very low numbers of the 90s just after the opening of the funicular. The past two seasons have seen a return to those very busy days and the atmosphere and snow conditions have been amazing. We are looking forward to having reason to make this a season of celebration.”

Mind your skis and queues a book of photographs of 50 years of snowsports at CairnGorm Mountain will be published in early 2012.

On 3rd March 2012 a celebratory Cairngorm 50 day will take place with a variety of snowsports events and competitions.

Glencoe Mountain Update - 30th Dec 2011

Heavy snow has been falling over the last 3 days massively improving conditions on the mountain after last weeks thaw. However the very strong winds have meant that the snow has ended up blowing into the gullies and not on the tow tracks where we need it.

This is great for building up a long term base for the season but the strong winds are currently frustrating our efforts to open for snowsports.

Forecast

The forecast is for a period of milder weather tomorrow (Saturday) which might actually be a good thing as it will saturate the snow so that it stops blowing away in the strong winds.

Into Sunday and beyond the forecast is for lots more snow but unfortunately also high winds.

It may be the high winds not a lack of snow that prevents us operating during the first few days of the New Year. We will keep you posted.

For the very latest conditions reports go to the glencoe website click here

Videos

The amazing conditions we had earlier this month have been captured on video

Main Basin and the wall - 16th Dec 2011

East Ridge, Baillies & Flypaper Area - 15th Dec 2011

Lets hope it's not long until we see conditions like this again - Andy and The Team at Glencoe Mountain.

Unfortunately we don't have enough snow for skiing at the moment. However snow is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday so we are hopeful of being able to re-open later in the week.

There is still a good cover of snow in the gullies but unfortunately all the tow tracks are now broken.

It won't take much new snow to have us fully operational again.

Check out the pictures from earlier today.


Looking up the Poma uptrack towards the Spring run


Still snow at the top of the access chair


Plenty of snow at the bottom of mugs alley


The wall is probably the only run that is still completely skiable, however the uptrack now has a couple of breaks in it.


New Mugs alley is skiable from the top of the Poma to just below the plateau cafe


Plenty of snow at the bottom of the Poma


Spring run, flypaper and radio gulley are all still complete but require a walk in as the ridge line has been stripped of snow.

We hope to have all the web cameras fully operational again by Friday, apologies for the lack of coverage over the last few weeks.

Andy and the Team at Glencoe Mountain

The weather for tomorrow (Friday) is for moderate (25 -30mph) westerly winds with frequent snow showers and despite the thaw all main links, tows and runs are still complete.

However the weather for this coming Sunday and Monday is atrocious with strong winds, high temperatures and torrential rain so my advice is make the most of the snow while we still have it.

Saturday's forecast is for stronger winds than Friday, so please check reports before traveling. Heavy snow is forecast in the morning but this is expected to turn to rain as the day goes on and temperatures start to rise.

The weather is expected to settle down by the middle of next week and as long as we still have some snow left conditions could be pretty good from Wednesday onwards - keep an eye on our homepage for the latest updates.

Coe Cup

The entries for the Coe Cup have now gone live and we expect the event to sell out very quickly so don't delay if you want to take part.

Race and entry form.

Ski school

Ski school is open, fully operational and taking bookings for the holidays. Contact Mandy - 07944 619272 or e-mail instruction@glencoemountain.co.uk for more information.

On behalf of all the staff at Glencoe we would like to thank you for your support over the last year and wish you a very Merry Christmas - From Andy and the team at Glencoe Mountain.

One of England’s highest flushing loos has been completed and christened in a mountain ceremony with a difference.

Standing at 2,500ft on the flanks of Raise near Helvellyn – the Lake District’s third highest mountain – this is no bog standard privy.

In fact, it has taken 75 years to bring the convenience to one of the most inconvenient locations in the land. But then the water closet’s creator, Lake District Ski Club, thrives on endurance – and challenge.

The Powder Room mission unleashed a chain reaction among the club’s 240 members, many of whom helped with the project. It comes after seven and half decades of skiing on Raise.

Carrying much of the equipment by hand – including the septic tank – up a steep fellside was a huge undertaking, according to committee member, Roger Newbold.

“Although the ultimate loo with a view had been in our minds for a great many years, the logistics of getting planning permission, putting up a building and organising the plumbing was far from easy.

“However, it is testimony to the true grit of our members that in 300 hours over 38 working days the seemingly impossible was achieved.”

“I guess this brings a whole new meaning to toilet training and we’re inordinately proud to have pulled-off this amazing feat in our anniversary year.

“We think there is only one higher flushing lavatory and that’s in the Civil Aviation Authority’s radar building on Great Dun Fell, near Penrith.”

Leading the project was club stalwart, Bernie Warriner, nearing his 80th birthday, and the man behind the “Lake District premier ski resort’s” remarkable tow and members’ hut.

www.ldscsnowski.co.uk

All five Scottish ski areas planned to open last weekend after two had to delay their planned opening a week ago when 130mph (208kph) winds hit the mountain tops.

It’s the fourth ‘good start to winter’ in a row in Scotland after an unseasonably warm November and the second year that all five areas have opened before Christmas. The resorts on the west coast often have very different weather conditions to those on the East coast meaning it is quite common for one side to open and the other not.

Nevis Range, the last to open, had hoped to open last weekend, one week earlier than planned, due to the significant snowfall on the slopes and final preparations were well underway until the storm hit.

High winds are regularly recorded on the slopes of the Aonach Mor where the ski lifts and runs are, and ongoing maintenance and repair work is very much part of normal life operating a ski resort.
However with wind speeds of well over 130mph (208mph) recorded on the summit last Thursday, Nevis Range knew that its return to business as normal would be somewhat challenging.

When the winds subsided and staff were eventually able to access the mountain at the weekend, they found that almost every lift and chair had been 'de railed' and large lengths of the cable had fallen deep into the snowy ground, bringing with it chairs and t-bars crashing to the ground.

The Quad Chair in particular had been one of the most extensively damaged; around 15 chairs were found to be completely irreparable and a further 25 chairs needed to be brought back down to the workshop to be more fully assessed and repaired. The Engineering team at Nevis have been working flat out to repair this damage.

The good news is that at the moment there's plenty of snow on the slopes and more is forecast on the upper slopes this week. Most runs are now complete with good cover and there's good skiing on and off the runs.

Skiers can easily ski back to the top station and the Snowgoose restaurant and bar, as well as to the base of the quad chair. There's ample beginners area and Snowsports School and Equipment Hire will be operating from Saturday.

For its opening weekend the resort plans to run Linnhe, Alpha, the Goose T bar and they also hope to get the Summit tow operating by Saturday afternoon. The Quad chair is still being worked on. However ALL of the runs on the main area of the resort on the front of the hill can be accessed by the lifts that are planned to open.

The resort is also gearing up for its Christmas activity, and will stay open every day, apart from Christmas day itself, with skiing and snowboarding, Christmas food and Santa himself is expected to arrive for a ski on the 23rd and 24th of December.

The resort had hoped to open last weekend, one week earlier than planned, due to the significant snowfall on the slopes and final preparations were well underway until the storm hit.

High winds are regularly recorded on the slopes of Aonach Mor, and ongoing maintenance and repair work is very much part of normal life operating a ski resort. However with wind speeds of well over 130 mph recorded on the summit last Thursday, Nevis Range knew that its return to business as normal would be somewhat challenging. When the winds subsided and staff were eventually able to access the mountain at the weekend, they found that almost every lift and chair had been 'de railed' and large lengths of the cable had fallen deep into the snowy ground, bringing with it chairs and t-bars crashing to the ground.


Damaged Quad Chair buried in the snow

The Quad Chair in particular had been one of the most extensively damaged; around 15 chairs were found to be completely irreparable and a further 25 chairs needed to be brought back down to the workshop to be more fully assessed and repaired. The Engineering team at Nevis have been working flat out to repair this damage.

A successful opening this coming weekend (17/12/11) is planned and the good news is that at the moment there's plenty of snow on the slopes and more is forecast on the upper slopes this week. Most runs are now complete with good cover and there's good skiing on and off of the runs. Skiers can easily ski back to the top station and the Snowgoose restaurant & bar, as well as to the base of the quad chair. There's ample beginners area and Snowsports School and Equipment Hire will be operating from Saturday. For its opening weekend the resort plans to run Linnhe, Alpha, the Goose T bar and they also hope to get the Summit tow operating by Saturday afternoon. The Quad chair is still being worked on. However ALL of the runs on the main area of the resort on the front of the hill can be accessed by the lifts that are planned to open.

The resort is also gearing up for its Christmas activity, and will stay open every day, apart from Christmas day itself, with skiing and snowboarding, Christmas food and Santa himself is expected to arrive for a ski on the 23rd and 24th of December.


Grooming in action today, 15th December

We have some great news Scottish Hydro have now guaranteed us power for tomorrow and have sited a 1MW generator on site just to make sure.

We anticipate having the Access Chair, Wall T-bar and Main Basin T-bar running first thing with the cliffy opening if needed. This will allow you to access the whole mountain.

Ski hire will be open but ski school will not open until the 17th Dec.

Conditions on the mountain are exceptional for this time of year. The pictures below show the mountain before the major storm on Tuesday during which we estimate an additional 24 -36 inches of snow fell.



If you don't believe how much snow has fallen then check out the picture of our Land Rover Discovery on Winterhighland. Just two days ago this vehicle was sitting on the surface of the snow.

We expect all the main runs on the mountain to be open with the exception of the flypaper (High Avalanche risk) and you can ski to the carpark. The carpark run is in great condition with a wide and deep cover other than the bottom 150 metres or so which is a bit wet and sugary.

A full run report will be issued by Ski Patrol early tomorrow morning.

The weather for tomorrow is looking good with a light westerly wind and the occasional snow shower.

We look forward to seeing you on the hill tomorrow.

The next report will be posted on Friday morning.

Andy & The Team at Glencoe Mountain

Scottish ski areas have been opening this weekend after a dramatic week that saw heavy snowfall at most areas earlier in the week followed by some of the strongest winds ever recorded in the UK gusting to over 160mph which caused damage and derailed lifts delaying planned openings at some areas.

The Lecht is one of the first areas to open describing snow conditions as hard packed with most runs complete and most lifts operating. There’s a maximum 150m vertical.

Cairngorm has also opened three easy runs served by two T Bar lifts in the Ciste and Ptarmigan bowls. 400 metres of vertical was possible above the 600m snowline.

“There is lovely groomed snow, however some areas are quite narrow.” said a resort statement.

Glenshee has 300m of vertical, a statement from the centre said, “With the recent strong winds the snow cover varies from large accumulations to thin and narrow in places. All the runs are groomed with packed powder snow.”

On the West Coast plans to open Glencoe and Nevis Range have had to be delayed due to storm damage.
At Glencoe, which had hoped to open on Saturday, the centre was left without powder and with two huts on the mountain ‘completely gone’ from the bottom of the Access Chair and Plateau Poma following Thursday’s storm. Staff worked all day to get the Access Chair back in operation and hope to be fully open on Sunday, depending on power being restored.

“There has been significant new snow accumulations since Thursday morning, with cover to the foot of the Access Chair,” said a resort statement.

A statement from Nevis Range said that lifts have been derailed so staff could not access the hill in preparation for the planned opening weekend. Extra maintenance is now required which will take a lot longer than had been planned.

“The good news is more snow is forecast into the coming week so the following weekend, when we are scheduled to open could be good!” said a statement from the centre.

The gondola will now open fully for winter next Saturday 17 December when Nevis Range will also open for snowsports on Saturday 17 December, wind and snow conditions permitting.

A loaded main basin

Power has now been restored to the mountain and we expect when the wind dies down to have all lifts open other than the Poma which needs a little more TLC before it will run.

Poma

When the Poma shed was destroyed the control panel and power meters were left out overnight in a snowdrift. We are now slowly drying out the electronics and will be working over the next few days to get everything re-connected. Unfortunately the power for the top of the access chair and the workshop also came from this shed hence the reason why the webcams which are situated in this area are not working yet.

Webcams

The summit and SSC hut cameras are on a vodaphone dongle and while we are getting weather data through we still aren't getting any pictures. This may fix itself once the Hydro resolve all the power issues in the area.
The main camera at the top of the access chair will be out for a few more days until it is safe to re-connect everything in the Poma shed. The only camera we currently have working is the one in the base station cafe which shows a good cover of snow all the way to the carpark.

Snow conditions

On Sunday when I was up the hill the snow cover looked more like what you would expect in late Feb.


From Mugs Alley looking towards the Spring run

All main runs are full and wide with a combination of packed powder with the occasional windscoured area. Overnight last night we had a heavy fall of snow all the way to the carpark with lots more snow forecast for this evening. Some forecast models show around 1/2metre of snow falling today.

With heavy snow falling to the carpark overnight we expect the carpark run to have further improved so when we do open we expect summit to car park riding to be available.


The carpark run on Sunday

Weather forecast

Tomorrow (Wednesday) looks like being windy but we will be doing everything we can to open the resort so that you can get a chance to ski what promises to be some pretty impressive conditions.

Thursday looks like being a calm day with isolated snow showers.

Friday could be stormy or could end up just being breezy - there seems to be no real consensus on the weather for Friday - keep tuned to our website for latest updates.

The Weekend looks like it will be much calmer with snow showers and very cold temperatures.

Thank you for all your patience and support over the last week. We really appreciate it.

We look forward to seeing you on the hill very soon.

The Team at Glencoe Mountain and used with permission.

Glencoe still has no power, telephone or mobile signal on the hill and the hydro still cannot give us a time for getting the power back on.

They do however have the access chair running again and will be selling day tickets today for this chair only. Ticket prices will be set in the morning once they review conditions, but an adult day pass will be somewhere between £10 and £15.

This run to the carpark is steep in places, could be narrow and may be very firm in the morning if the overnight drizzle forecast at this level re-freezes.

They are unable to open the cafe without power so the the ticket office will be selling cold drinks and packaged foods. The ticket office is cash only as the card machines will not work without power.

Ski hire will be open, but there will be no ski school until next weekend.

This is a bit of a good news bad news update.

The good news is that we reckon we have more snow than at any point last season. Enough snow in fact that the skidoo driver couldn't get up the Poma uptrack without banging his head on the cable.

The bad news is that we suffered extensive storm damage on Thursday.

The tally of damage is as follows:-

- The shed (Chizzy's shed) at the bottom of the access chair which houses the main control panel for the chair was completely destroyed.


Picture from early yesterday morning

- The shed at the bottom of the Poma was also blown away.
- The Cliffy drive station roof has also dissapeared.
- and we have had a number of derailments.

Compounding all this we still have no power in the valley so have been working by generator and flashlight.

The staff have worked flat out all day to get a new cabin in place and re-wire the control panel at the bottom of the access chair and at around 8pm this evening we got the chair running again.

The plan for today is to safety test the access chair, sort out the derailments, build a new Poma shed and rewire it's control panel.

If we get the power back on and can complete this work we plan to open on Sunday for summit to car park skiing.

Thanks for your patience. Ski patrol will be able to access the hill tomorrow to provide a full run report.

[From the Team at Glencoe Mountain]

Glenshee earlier todayAfter some near record breaking storms yesterday it’s looking like a couple of Scotland’s resorts will be opening this weekend if the weather allows. Right now, everyone’s assessing snow / damage after the storm but Glenshee and the Lecht are both hoping to get their lifts turning for the first runs of the year. Nevis Range are dealing with a number of lift derailments, Glencoe are without power and Cairngorm still need more snow, but that’s in the forecast.

Conditions at the Lecht and Glenshee are expected to be typical early season with drifts against the snow fences offering some freshness – here’s the scene from Glenshee earlier today: www.webcam-hd.com/glenshee.php

Forecast

In the East, winds are expected to drop early on Saturday to 20-25mph with cloud clearing and the possibility of sunshine breaking through in the afternoon. Sunday should also have broken cloud but with increased winds of 40-60mpg gusting 80mph at times. In the West the forecast is similar but with calmer winds than in the East. For full info check out: http://mwis.org.uk/

Avalanche Risk

Given the volume of snow that has fallen in places and the wind that has accompanied this the avalanche risk is considerable - high with significant wind loading / wind slab risk.

Parks

All efforts have been on getting the roads open and lifts turning so nowhere is expected to have a comprehensive park set-up this year. Glenshee and the Lecht have rails ready to go and will get them out as soon as snow / time allows.

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Nevis Range plans to open for skiing and snowboarding this weekend, earlier than planned, due to the recent significant snowfall.

The resort is currently amidst its annual maintenance period, but will pull out all the stops to open at the weekend. Work undertaken this year includes building 1200 metres of new fencing, much of it new 'rail style' fencing, as well as maintaining the chairs and lifts on the pistes and replacing the bearings on several lifts.

Just days ago, and in time for the weekend opening, the resort welcomed its new groomer machine 'Polar' to the resort amidst blizzard conditions in its car park.



The Pinemarten cafe bar, which was a building site during the previous winter, will now be open late at weekends and holidays for traditional apres ski.



The resort is also developing workshops in its Back Corrie area and is building a Transceiver Park, which will open this winter season.

Glencoe Mountain are delighted to announce that they will be opening at 10am on Friday 9th of Dec for the 2011/2012 ski season... weather permitting.

The forecast for Friday is a little stormy, but they appreciate how desperate some of you are to get out and slash up some powder so will do everything in their power to be open Friday.

The plan is to open 7 days a week, from now until the end of the season - weather and snow permitting.

The weekend is looking much more settled with lighter winds and the occasional snow shower. Snow conditions in places are awesome with masses of windblown powder while other areas are narrow and windscoured.

A picture speaks a thousand words they say, so here are some pictures from the plateau area yesterday so that you can see what conditions are like for yourself.



Captions for above, from top left:

• Blues skies
  
• Looks like we put the beginners' tow in the correct place
  
• Still a bit of digging to do before we can open
  
• New snow fencing on Mugs Alley doing it's job
  
• Nicely groomed all the way to the plateau cafe
  
• Nice and deep on the low road

Remember to wrap up warm!

[From Glencoe Mountain Update and used with permission.]

The new piste basher was finally unloaded at Nevis Range yesterday, in the middle of blizzard like conditions in the car park, fitting for a PistenBully 300 Polar. Coming from a resort in Switzerland, via the PistenBully factory in Germany where is was reconditioned, it’s "new to Nevis" with just some 3,300 hours on the clock.

We’re looking forward to getting it up and out on the slopes as soon as possible. Its blade is significantly larger than any of the existing groomers, so will be able to quickly shift 100s of tonnes of snow around the pistes. Particularly useful for building jumps and shifting snow in the summit terrain park. It’s also got a flex-tiller which will leave a cleaner and much better prepared piste than before.

Now we just have to wait for enough snow to open (which will be this weekend)!



www.nevisrange.co.uk

Over the summer the Engineering team have been busy carrying out lift maintenance at Nevis Range.

They’ve replaced the bearings on the Goose t bar return bull-wheel, which involved removing the haul rope and then lowering the bull-wheel to the ground in order to allow access to the bearings. The old bearings were then removed and replaced with new ones. The picture shows the Goose t bar return bull-wheel with the haul rope removed and the the bull-wheel sitting on the ground.

On the Quad chair, repairs have been carried out to the seat backs, the safety bars and other moving chair parts, and the chairs are now back on the cable.

All of the spring boxes on the tows have been striped, cleaned, greased and any worn parts have been replaced. So far the Warrens boxes are loaded and the Goose and the Summit boxes are waiting in situ.

We take grease and oil sampling from all the bull-wheels and gearboxes on the lifts and, depending on the results, we take corrective action, for example, gear box replacement or refurbishment. In total, we’ve replaced over 200 sheaves / wheel liners, and there’s an average 8 sheaves / wheels on each lift tower.

On Braveheart, the main engine and auxiliary backup have both received maintenance, including oil and filter changes. Both the service and emergency brakes have been cleaned and all safety aspects tested. All the chairs have been loaded and 1,000 litres of diesel has been flown over … in preparation for the snow.