UKC

Looking for advise if people think routes like The Forcan Ridge, Golden Oldy, Curved Ridge etc will be okay for tomorrow? Looks like the turf won't be frozen, are these routes significantly harder without frozen turf?

And any other suggestions for grade I to III stuff tomorrow in the West?

In reply to chaser:

Not sure about Golden Oldy.

Curved Ridge doesn't rely on frozen turf (there ain't any) but i doubt it will have much snow on it just now.

Forcan Ridge can be done in any conditions and indeed might be quite nice and wintry.

In reply to chaser:
"Hence it is important for conservation reasons that vegetation is well frozen to minimise damage." From: http://www.mcofs.org.uk/winter-climbing-guide-ethics.asp

It's not because it's harder that climbs with unfrozen turf are avoided, it's to avoid damaging the turf, which will then change the nature of the climb.

As for routes, so stuff from Dave McLeod here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2218

and Dan Bailey here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=4199

In reply to chaser:

I don't imagine they would be much fun. Why not wait till they are in good condition to enjoy them at their best?

In reply to Michael Gordon:

You can see it on this if it wasn't for that pesky darkness! http://kingy.viewnetcam.com/CgiStart?page=Single&Language=0

In reply to Michael Gordon:

Glencoe is getting blootered right now and conditions are changing by the minute; two hours ago the top half of the Buachaille had a pretty good covering and the snowline was visibly dropping by the hour. Of course, I have no idea whether anything will actually be in condition.

Based on what we saw today in the Mamores, cornices are building and windslab is being deposited very rapidly, along with graupel layers. There might even be some avalanche risk in some places by tomorrow.

The freezing level is also fluctuating so who knows what might happen!

In reply to chaser:

They'll be fine, go for it.

Yes, they all have turf on them (although a lot less on Curved Ridge), but nothing that you do is going to change the character of the route. The turf guidelines, such as they are, are more minded towards technical routes where turf is critical, not mountaineering outings.

If the sun shines you cannot fail to enjoy any of the above.

In reply to Only a hill:

Thanks for the report!

In reply to Michael Gordon:
No bother! There's a couple of pics on my blog post from today:
http://www.alexroddie.com/2012/11/we-should-think-about-turning-back.html

Some Glencoe Info

http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/578510/382a4d0de3/ARCHIVE

and

Glencoe Mountain Resort
2 hours ago
Some pretty heavy snow falling at the moment. The webcams should like a little better by the morning.......