from SAIS Lochaber
Finally there was a break in the high winds which seem to have been battering Scotland over the past few weeks. I took the oppertunity to get up on to the summit of Aonach Mor. From the plateau I saw evidence of a large slab avalanche in Coire an Lochain. In this picture I have marked the crown wall (or what I could see) in the picture above in red. I estimated this to be over 200 metres long. There was plenty of debris right down to the loch. This avalanche probabley released sometime on Wednesday during
published: 4 months ago
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downloaded: 4 months ago
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31 views
from SAIS Lochaber
Today we were up on Ben Nevis for a wee look about. In general there is lots of snow, and winter climbing conditions are looking good, and there were very few people about. There has been a large avalanche from below the Orion face. The crown wall ran all the way from below the first platform of North East Buttress to below Observatory Ridge. In the photo I have marked the most obvious bit of the crown wall in red. The height of this crown wall was quite variable, and in some sections it was quite shallow
published: 5 months ago
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downloaded: 5 months ago
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23 views
from SAIS Lochaber
The original plan today had been to head over to the col between Aonach Mor and Aonach Beag to see if there had been any avalanches on the latters North side. However, the visibility was poor and a did not think I would see anything from the col, so I decided to stop near the actual summit of Aonach Mor and investigate the snow in one of the Gullies at the top of the West face. On the way back it did clear slightly, which allowed me to take this shot of the South Side of Coire an Lochan. Although it is ...
published: about 1 year ago
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downloaded: about 1 year ago
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61 views
from SAIS Southern Cairngorms
A full depth wet slab avalanche on Carn an Tuirc on a South -Westerly aspect which released a few days ago in the recent warming period. Looking up at the bed surface and debris. At the crown wall. Donald (yellow jacket) is 6 ft 2 inches.
published: about 1 year ago
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downloaded: about 1 year ago
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171 views
from SAIS Northern Cairngorms
Leaving the cairn at the top of the Fiachaill a Choire Chais Looking into Coire ant Sneachda Crown walls of observed avalanche are just visible in the top left corner of picture. Avalanche released either yesterday or last night. Crown wall 1m deep in places and 100m across has travelled 350 metres with enough debris to bury a car (size 3 avalanche) NW aspect 1100m. A respite in the storm gave us some visibility for a short while - closing in again later with heavyy snowfall. Snowpack remains weak on most
published: about 1 year ago
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downloaded: about 1 year ago
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87 views
from SAIS Southern Cairngorms
This massive snow 'boulder' is one of the pieces of debris of the glide avalanche reported. The crown wall is visible from the A93 just south of Glenshee Ski Centre on the Glas Maol/Carn Leacach side of the glen. We estimate this boulder has a mass of about 80 tonnes. Thanks to Malcolm MacIntyre of BMRT for the photo.
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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33 views
from SAIS Southern Cairngorms
Here are a couple of photographs of the glide triggered avalanche on the south-west slopes (NO 158760) of Glas Maol. The crown wall is about 100m wide and up to 3m high. Debris is hidden by the intervening ridge, Leacann Dubh. We have asked a few locals who say that they have not seen an avalanche here before. Interesting. There's probably more like that to come after this big snow season. Thanks a lot to Bill Smith of Glenshee Ski patrol for the photos.
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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49 views
from SAIS Lochaber
It feels like a while since we have had a nice clear day like today, here are some pictures. Looking over towards Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg. I reakon that ice climbing conditions high on the Ben would have been great today. Some cracking appearing by my footsteps on on a small test slope. The crags at the south end of Coire an Lochan of Aonach Mor. Note that crown wall down and left. Recent avalanche debris reaching the lochan, with one of these slides coming from the crown wall seen in the previous ...
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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42 views
from SAIS Lochaber
On the way up Aonach Mor this morning we heard reports of a "wee slide" being triggered on the West Face at the lowly altitude of about 600 metres. We had been planning to head to that sort of area anyway, so we decided to go and investigate. What we found was a hard slab avalanche had occurred. It was about 50 metres wide, and had run about 200 metres down the hill side. The crown wall reached a maximum depth over a metre, and was 50cm to 1 metre deep from most of it's length. A bit bigger than a "wee ...
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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64 views
from SAIS Southern Cairngorms
Lochnagar - Main Corrie Central Gully - crown wall in gully. Large cornices Central Buttress area Cornices above the parallels Debris out of Raeburns - Click on photo to enlarge Buttresses pretty much black. Gullies still complete but debris at the bottom of most of them and cornices still present above them. These will become more suspect as the thaw continues.
published: over 3 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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42 views
