A pleasant day on the mountain. Early morning cloud gave way to a beautiful sunshine and light winds – a welcome change and good for an Avalanche Forecaster’s soul!

After yesterdays enjoyable spring snow conditions on the lower slopes, today was very different! The firm older snow gave some rattly skiing easier walking conditions but some very serious runouts on steep slopes and crag aprons. Some isolated windslab accumulations are present on East facing aspects and gave some enjoyable chalky skiing between the patches of hard older snow.

The high pressure will remain dominant bringing inversion conditions to the Northern Cairngorms. Although a nice sunny day is expected the South – Easterly winds will strengthen as they are squeezed by the inversion and the snowpack will remain firm despite the sunshine.

The morning cloud  burns off on the East face of Cairngorm, a mix of hard old snow and new isolated windslab

Raised Ptarmigan footprints in the new windslab accumulations.

South East aspects of Cairngorm

Shallow accumulations of windslab.

Surface cracks in the new accumulations of windslab.

Skiers “enjoying” the firm conditions on the South side of Cairngorm, we heard them before we spotted them.

Looking up a South West,  wind scoured aspect.

Looking up a wind loaded South East aspect.

No caption required!

Avalanche forecasts  have ended for the 2014/15 winter season. We recommend that mountain goers venturing into the hills continue to observe weather forecasts prior to their excursions, and visual observations of conditions during their trip. This information is important in making good plans and allowing for flexible decision making. Some snow cover will remain and will continue to present a slipping and falling hazard if firm and icy. Cornices are a hazard on some easterly slopes, these are unpredictable and prone to collapse, as is the potential for full depth avalanche  during warm spring conditions on these aspects.

We would like to thank you for your support over the winter and wish you an enjoyable summer. With thanks from the SAIS forecaster team