UKC

If anyone has been climbing or walking around the Loch Avon area of the Cairngorms any info on the snow conditiond (snow line, cover, quality) would be much appreciated. In Particular the following gullies:

Castlegate gully between Sheltersone Crag and Carn Etchacan
Pinnacle Gully to the right of Sheltersone
Diagonal Gully on stag rocks

Also Alladins Couloir in sneachda.

Wondering if they are skiable this early in the winter given the recent snow.

Cheers

In reply to Alexander123:

I'd be surprised if there was enough of a build up to ski them following the thaw on Saturday (of in fact before that) but can't offer you a definate as I haven't been out.

Excuse me if I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs but most folk wait for a big build up and a base to ski these things which isn't impossible at this point but is unlikely.

For future reference:

Castlegates has a ridge at the top that takes a bit of covering and exits on to large scree that also takes a while to fill in and can limit how far down you can ski.
Diagonal has some steep rocks below the entry fan that will take a while to fill in
Alladins has a pitch low down that I'm sure will be exposed although it is sometimes possible to ski the top of the gully and exit skiers right onto the open face above the narrows.
I'm not aware of any complications in Pinnacle but I haven't skied it.

In reply to DaveHK: Not sure about the back but the Northern Corries do not have enough snow yet for the run outs.

In reply to Alexander123: Cheers guys. I expected that they wouldnt be ready but at least it has got a good start. A few months.

In reply to Alexander123:

Skiing all 4 of them would be a superb day out and quite frequently doable later in the year. Alladins is probably the most awkward as build up affects the steepness of the entry and it often contains pesky climbers and boot tracks. The entry to Castlegates can be difficult depending on how the wind has been blowing.

In reply to DaveKerr: Pinnacle gully had an awkward entry (similar in difficulty to alladins) when I did it a few seasons ago, mainly due to the build up (end of season), but I would expect it to be pretty friendly normally. The gully itself is pretty straight forward (interms of angle). Obviously being a different orientation and altitude, the surface will not necessarily be the same as in the northern corries (on a given day).

Andy

In reply to andyinglis:

Was that the day I met you above Aladdins?

The couple of times I've skied past Pinnacle it has had a weird sort of slumped cornice with a very steep section below it.

Aladdins is very variable and up to a point the entry seems to get harder with build up not easier.

In reply to Alexander123:

Diagonal skied yesterday:

http://www.winterhighland.info/touring/displaypic.php?id=22588,3124#start

In reply to Alexander123:

Diagonal skied Sun 2nd Dec.

Photos on Glenmore lodge face book

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=289540377834312&set=a.2895401278...