UKC

Heading to scotland tomorrow for some sliding and all the areas seem in similar condition, does anyone have any on the ground reports of where is in the least icy condition at all?

I guess staying lower will allow for softer conditions which seems to point to The Nevis Range, having never skied there any advice or knowledge is welcomed before committing to one or the other.

Cheers

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe: good cover reported at glenshee, anything e and s facing will soften pretty fast if there is still cover, what sort of skiing do you want to do?

4 4000s would seem the obvious tick...

alternatively ski in the borders...

http://skitourscotland.co.uk/tours/southern-uplands/32-dollar-law.html

^ Yep, Glenshee (or Glencoe) would be good but Nevis Range would be the last place I'd go just now, if looking for 'softer conditions'. It took a hard wind scouring about 10 days ago and didn't receive very much fresh in return. The back coires may well get into good form again after the warm-up next week but their current bullet-proof 50 degree scarps don't appeal to too many skiers. Also, there's never much snow 'lower down' on Aonach Mor, as most of it gets scoured at the best of times but it does pile up in the Goose gully (800-1,100 metres) or over the top in those 3 off piste coires.

Anyway, there aren't many regular Scotland skiers in UKC so you might be better to have a look at winterhighland instead which has reports posted from most of the ski areas most skiable days in the 'public reports' and 'backcountry' sections and commentary in the forums too.

I skied the Moffat Hills, Glenshee and Cairngorm at the weekend and all hills had mostly excellent snow and excellent snow cover.

http://www.winterhighland.info/touring/index.php?50,3497

http://www.winterhighland.info/publicreports/index.php?50,3496

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe:
Last week I skied at Lecht and Cairngorm. Both had full coverage and better powder than we had in the alps at the same time last year. Cairngorm has more varied terrain and the opportunity to hire touring kit and explore.

As its been so cold this week (at least, it has in the south) presumably it hasnt changed too much...maybe?

Pete

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe:


If you want to stay low presumably you should go to the Lecht?

I skied at Glenshee on Monday. It was very good indeed. There was a touch of ice here and there, but nothing that spoiled things.

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe:

I would choose Glenshee, then CairnGorm, then Glen Coe, then the Lecht and then Nevis Range based purely on the skiing I have done over the last few weeks. Touring conditions are also great in many areas.

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe: I was up at Glenshee yesterday, on piste was great not much ice thanks to very good pisting. Off-piste was a lot of re-frozen snow, like skiing on a building site. Warmer weather over the weekend should hopefully soften things up a bit.

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe:

Just back from an incredible day at Glencoe. For the most part excellent conditions on soft powdery snow and firm base. Great coverage, folk going all over the place. Toasty in the sun.

Spoke to someone who was at Nevis yesterday. He said it was very scoured and some narrow runs with a lot less snow. Sounds like there conditions report may be a bit misleading.

A friend was on Cairngorm today. Looked and sounds excellent too.

If you are boarding then Glencoe does have some great and varied terrain.

Enjoy!

In reply to catt: I toured across the north east ridge of Ben More on Saturday, then skied down the north side almost to the forestry road. Conditions varied from bullet proof ice and rime high up to soft snow lower down, and some combat type skiing through the newly planted trees.
Why pay for a lift pass, but can I just recommend the massive all day breakfast at Glencoe ski resort.

In reply to Messners Yeti:
Last week I skied Glenshee, The Glas Maol piste must be 150m wide. Full coverage, much more terrain than Cairngorm, the opportunity for great touring, and you can hire touring kit at Braemar.
Best it been since ... oh, since a couple years ago when it was also fantastic.

In reply to Seocan: I commute into Aberdeen every day, and its been snowing on and off a wee bit all weekend, and mon-tues.

I'd imagine that Glenshee/Lecht/Cairngorm will have a dusting of fresh stuff just now as well.

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe:
Decided to make the most of the conditions and spent Sunday and Monday skiing at Glenshee. Absolutely brilliant! Monday was exceptional as there was a fresh covering of snow overnight (also meaning the road to Lecht was closed on Monday).

In reply to all:

Thanks for all the info, knowledge and advice.

We had an awesome few days up on Cairngorm with superb snow especially on the off piste runs. Fresh snow every day, the sun made more than a fleeting appearance and folk were as friendly as ever....who needs to fly to France eh?

So good to be sliding in Scotland and great to see the industry having a successful season. Even thinking of heading back up in a couple of weeks if it stays good.

In reply to Jon Ratcliffe:

You should do. I skinned up Cairn Gorm last night and the pisteing was the best I have seen anywhere in the world. They are getting obsessive about it now.