UKC

Hi.
Weather looking the best since October for this weekend.

What's the snow cover like on the hills from Arrochar up to Crianlarich? Deep and soft (hope not)?

In reply to Flinticus:

www.benmorewebcam.co.uk

In reply to Flinticus:

Caught a wee glimpse of the Crianlarich Munros from work today and they looked aw nice and white. I'm rostered on at work this weekend!

In reply to Joak:

I kinda knew it would be better this weekend going by my law of 'an arrangement gives rise to conflict', i.e. I organise something far ahead and something will crop up at around the same time, meaning some kind of compromise.

I'd like to have gone away this weekend with the weather the way it should be but I've tickets to Andy Kirkpatrick's talk on Saturday night (bought in September). However I don't expect you'll be sympathetic to my problem!

At the moment looks like I can get out Sunday, probably for a single hill, taking in easy, just hoping to breathe it all in. Last hill was early October.

In reply to Flinticus:
I was on Cruachan today. Snow (all powder) - lying above 600 metres. Roughly 3-9 inches. with a little bit of drifting Southern Highlands generally looked similar. Should be a nice weekend! More snow should be lying especially come Sunday which looks the better of the 2 days

In reply to Flinticus:

it was torrential rain at all levels on weds night with freezing above 1100m (glencoe area). most of last weeks snow was stripped and ground saturated. any new snow will be powdery and on unfrozen ground

In reply to Flinticus:

Had a walk up Ben Lomond this afternoon - there's snow lying from about 650m, with reasonable cover above 850m. There were some patches of ice and refrozen slush - I went up the top half of the Ptarmigan ridge with axe in hand, just in case.

forecast looks good for the weekend, so there should be some good days to be had.

In reply to Flinticus:
Traffic Scotland cameras showing snow on road at Tyndrum at the moment.
Make sure you do get out this weekend as weather for next 7-10 days not looking too good.

In reply to Flinticus:

Well, good and bad news

Any Kirkpatrick's talk was cancelled and I only found out on turning up at the venue, after google maps sending me down some bus only roads. I couldn't really even get a pint (venue was Drygate Brewery) as I was driving and, anyway, the bar area had a massive screen showing footie. The flip side of what I had travelled over for

I got out Sunday, to An Caisteal and had a great walk: up via Sron Gharbh and back via Stob Glas. Snow from about 500m. The hills loked so f**king brilliant and tempting.

Stopped at The Drovers for chips, coffee and a half pint of Drover Blonde. Its been a long time since I paid for a drink and left it behind. The 'Blonde' had the apperance of cider and the taste of canned tennents. Worse drink I've tasted in years. So disappointing. They could do with some decent ale there.

In reply to Flinticus:

Thanks for starting this thread - I had resigned myself to a weekend of rubbish weather and DIY/other chores and stopped looking at the forecast. Reconsidered on Friday evening after reading some comments here and ended up with a belter of a Sunday down in Glen Etive

In reply to Flinticus:

I had an afternoon jaunt up Beinn Each on Sunday, not far from where you were. The weather really was stunning, wasn't it?

http://ootnaboot.scot/autumn2015/20151122Beinn_Each.jpg

The air was so crisp, the Arran hills were clearly visible behind Ben Ledi, and it felt like a proper early Winter day.

I can hardly wait for the snow to arrive in earnest!

In reply to Flinticus:

Fine weekend as others have said. Think it was better in the Lakes on Saturday than Sunday, rather than the other way round in Scotland. Didn't do much on Sunday - just a traverse of Holme Fell - but it was generally cloudier and more raw-feeling than Saturday, when my pal Gordon Ingall and I had a five-hour wander round various of the main Coniston tops. Lovely and clear - great views, eg easy to see the North Wales hills and Pendle looked close - and reasonable underfoot with a fair amount of snow (especially in the corrie above Levers Water) and some icy bits on Prison Band - like Neil above we opted for axe-in-hand just to be on the safe side.

Chilly breeze but that helped more than hindered as it firmed things up nicely and had scoured the ridges and west-facing slopes. It dropped steadily through the day anyway - was very pleasant stopping for lunch on Grey Friar (which was the day's main target, being the 100th ascent for Gordon, who now has all the seven main Coniston Wainwrights in triple figures - he didn't have the actual date to hand, but reckoned his first time up Grey Friar was in 1959).

In reply to malky_c:

What you get up to?

I'd decided since I wasn't bagging anything, just to take it easy and just go up the one. As usual I ascended fairly quickly and then took a leisurely descent, relaxing into the downhill and taking in the views. I narrowly missed a guy ascending from Coire a'Chuilinn, with two collies and then overshot a couple with a young collie! I never got to meet any of these dogs! The one regret from the walk...

Skog: I don't know, I don't like it when the snow gets to the roads and starts to affect travel, or lies feet deep on the hills. I appreciate it more when its about ankle deep, with some shapely drfits to appreciate before crashing through Godzilla style.

In reply to Flinticus:

Stob Dubh and Beinn Mhic Chasgaig. Great sunset from the latter. I could see Cruach Ardrain through a gap in the hills, but not sure about An Caisteal without checking my photos - looked just as great down there.

In reply to malky_c:

Beinn Mhic Chasgaig: is that the one with the big gulley going up to the summit?

In reply to Flinticus:

Yes - the one directly behind Creise

In reply to skog:
We were up Beinn Each and then onto Stuc a' Chroin: I guess our paths didn't cross, but it was a stunning day! Galloway hills clearly visible from S a'C, a good 80 miles away. Only got back from a week in Texas at Saturday lunchtime, so it was great antidote for the jet lag.

In reply to Flinticus:
Generally the cover is better as you north. The saddle up (but not down) to creise from the top of the ski lifts was covered in neve. The gullies on the Ben were reported complete and with a firm base too. The cover looked best that way....