UKC

Worth a look? Thinking of mid-grade turfy buttress routes, beinn an dothaidh, meall bhudhe etc, is the turf likely to be good enough by tuesday or wednesday? It looks like it was freezing a bit before the snowfall so it might be worth a shot?

In reply to mijrob:

Anyone?

In reply to mijrob:

I was walking up Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh yesterday. I found pretty much all surface water was frozen above 750m, the turf around the summits was pretty firm if not totally solid, and it was -2 at 1000m. Reasonable sized cornices on north facing gullies. Hope that helps.

In reply to Taurig:

Thank you that is useful.
Does anyone else have any other info or willing to take a guess on whether buttress routes will be in condition in a few days?

In reply to mijrob:

It all looked very white from the road this morning.

Cheers, Loz

In reply to mijrob: Very surprised if they are not, going myself mid week.

In reply to mijrob:

The turf was, quite surprisingly, frozen on the N Peak Cobbler today. If this weather, overcast, snow continues, good to go I reckon.

Stuart

In reply to mijrob:

Snowed down to road level along the A82 last night from the Coe as far down as northern loch lomond. The wee hills just north of Glasgow look white in the sun (from my dreary office window). Turf was fairly frozen up very high in kintail on saturday, and the freezing level and snow line has now dropped and being slightly east should be colder. So with a few more freezes you might be in luck...

In reply to mijrob:

I take it the south facing routes on the Cobbler stripped in the sun today?

In reply to mijrob:

I'd be interested in this too if anyone has any updates on conditions in the Southern Highlands - anyone been out today?

In reply to jonnie3430:


Was it sunny further south? Not so in Kinlochleven.

In reply to Jamie B:

Blue skies in weeg, Cobbler south facing routes may be in if there was cloud cover further north, but I have an alternative esoterica planned for tomorrow!

In reply to jonnie3430:

Hmm, I wonder if the Bridge of Orchy corries will be worth a look.

In reply to JamesRoddie:

I doubt Creag an Coire an Dothaidh, but the NE Coire should be good.

The LIVE EYE Camera for Traffic Scotland at the Rest and Be Thankful shows the Ben An Lochan face.

In reply to mijrob:

I reckon it'll be alright, although approaches could be hard work. Heading for Dothaidh today so will update later.

In reply to mijrob: I'll be interested to know what the conditions would be like on either S-E ridge or the easier gully lines on the cobbler. Planning to go up thursday, and forecast seems to suggest it'll have been nice and cold for a while.

In reply to mijrob:

Dothaidh was good today. Not as snowy as I'd feared and turf mostly excellent.

In reply to mijrob: We found that where the turf had been buried, it wasn't fully frozen, but where exposed, was quite solid.

Here's a bit more info: http://www.applemountaineering.co.uk/2013/01/15/kings-for-a-day-messiah-bei...

In reply to mijrob:

Surprisingly given all this discussion, there was only one other soloist in the Corrie yesterday, and Rich and Ken had Socaich to themselves.

In reply to KA:
Looking at your picks it probably was VII.
I did it fully iced. I couldn't see your corner...it was an ice curtain, although still thin at thye top. On that day VI, possibly tech7 for pitch 1 hand traverse. You should go back for the ice, I suspect it will be a different route.
Well done!

In reply to French Erick:

What a great crag! The thinness of P3 balanced out the route nicely. I think both of us were expecting a straightforward pitch, which it wasn't. I wonder if anyone has investigated going through the fierce steep ground to the left of the Messiah start to then link up with P3? Beyond my capabilities I think.