Not raise blood pressure....just making a common sense comment !!

Oh no! I've just looked at the webcams - it's only Friday morning and the runs are just about stripped already!

Karma ...it's called !!

The rate at which it goes is directly proportional to the number of days Full Price is charged for a Day Ticket when only a few lifts are running and not all the Mountain is ski-able !

Hahahhahahahahahahahaha...brilliant deduction

Be Nice to Skiers, they have it hard enough already

This thaw provides some justification for them opening a Tena outlet store alongside their coldwar inspired Saga stop.

Traditionally the Husky weekend has always been the kiss of death for any decent skiing !! Remember the mushers don't like snow !

Good day yesterday after a slow start, as expected for digging out. Best snow in Coire Cas and the boulder field.Cas T-bar queue 2 lines at it's worst, but moved quickly and was well organised by the lifties. By afternoon the Ptarmigan T-bar came on, queues virtually disappeared and visibilty improved for the last run! No pictures as Graeme away.

I go away for a while and when I get back some one has trashed the place! I think some one left the window open and all the snow blew away!

Well its is not as bad as I was fearing. The middle and upper runs have good fresh snow fence to fence. The guys have been pushing the snow about and made an good surface in the top bowls, the white lady and the cas area. I would not describe it as powder as the moist air is making a crunchy surface as the moisture freezes,this is getting skied in to a similar consistency of the man made snow from the cannons,not unpleasant.

The top bowls are wide and it is mainly ski anywhere but not off piste at all. CG said the ciste is narrow, I think they underestimated the run as it was very nice to ski, ok the right hand fork is not so good but the main fairway is good.

The traverse is two machines wide but keep to the middle as one mistake and you are into the rocks at the sides.The coronation wall side is stripped bare and the drop to the right is a bolder field.

The cas is lovely, full length including the bolder field between the up and down ropes. Plenty to keep you happy. The gun barrel has caught the snow and is full, a nice ski down. Only the top zig zag is usable but ok to get you back to the M1 and cas load.

The lady has been patched to two/ three machine widths. Nice controllable snow until the cross over to the M1. Thin and rocky here with a bit of ice.

A word of warning, mid term has started, some of Glasgow and Stirling are off, brats every where (and their children) and its only going to get worse next week with the rest of the country.

The weather was lovely up to 10:30 then the cloud level started to drop. The wind was not more than a breeze. Snow showers passing through getting progressively heavier at the end of the day. The bad news is it is above freezing level in the car park, a mixture of snow and sleet here.

At the end of the day I did take the car park tow path down, good for 3/4s then rock. I headed to the left and the Fiacail side to heather ski down to the load station. Not a recommended route, take the train or walk the last 25%.

Graeme

Ptarmigan bowl, nice surface


Traverse, keep your speed down as there is no ski out to the sides.


The cas and gun barrel are giving very nice skiing, A few folks in the gun barrel that may be should not have been there, but fun to watch them having ago!


Lady, nice ski down but very thin at the cross over to the M1


The car park tow path, the snow disappears just over the crest but you can make it down if you are crazy.







Edited 2 times. Last edit at 17.05hrs Mon 8 Feb 16 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: Lower Cas + Gun Barrel.JPG (215kB)   Traverse.JPG (202kB)   White Lady.JPG (262kB)   Ptarmigan Bowl.JPG (227kB)   Carpark Tow Path.JPG (264kB)  

Hopefully the snow showers the mesoscale models are flagging up for the Lecht tomorrow afternoon overnight into Wed will make it to CairnGorm, a wee bit more snow and being able to get to the Carpark would make a huge difference!

Windy, what is the Funicular doing mid-stopping or is it variable?

It was making mid station stops all day running quickly with little loading time, not sticking to the time table. I manage to keep away from it other than my first run up and with the cas and M1 running it kept the queues to a minimum even with mid term starting. Mostly ski on.

Graeme

Any idea about prices...they "forgot" to put it on their site...mate offshore was asking !

A repeat of yesterday weather wise, started off with sunshine then the cloud level dropped with snow late afternoon. The wind started to pick up a bit.

The snow over night freshened up the runs very nicely and some of the upper areas are filling in a bit more but not lower down. Areas such as the M1 load and the white lady cross over are wearing thin. The lady its self is getting better as is the cas and gun barrel.

The lower runs need significant snow to open.

The top bowl is very nice, fresh and light with the accumulating snow.

A very good day to practice your technical turns with edges carving very nicely on all runs. Best run? a toss up between the lady and the boulder field of the Cas between the up and down ropes.

Again like yesterday the surface changes in the afternoon to a bit more slick but the falling snow will fix that for tomorrow hopefully.

Well I did not learn from yesterday and headed back down using the car park tow path, if anything is was worse than yesterday! Don't be as daft as me, use the train!

Sorry George, no idea how much they are charging, I keep away from the ticket area.

Graeme

Looking over to the east ptarmigan. it is filling in but still not ready for off piste.


looking down the ciste bowl late morning, the snow quality is excellent and not crowded at all.











Edited 1 times. Last edit at 19.15hrs Tue 9 Feb 16 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: East Ptramigan.JPG (239kB)   ciste bowl.JPG (236kB)  

Woke up to heavy falling snow in the village this morning and when arrived on the mountain I was not disappointed. There has been significant accumulations at most levels. The lower runs have improved, I am not sure if it is enough to open the lifts but it is now easy to ski to the car park down multiple roots.

By lunch time the snow had gone off and the sun came out to give a beautiful day

Off piste skiing has returned The east ptarmigan was excellent. A few folks attempted the coronation wall and the east lady but in my opinion these are still a bit thin.

The cas shred has been built in the boulder field and has a variety of rails and jumps. A nessie has been build at the end, a word of warning curtail your speed before entering, very entertaining at speed!

Best run of the day, very hard to chose. Ptarmigan bowl ideal for all levels, good fresh snow. The east ptarmigan great off piste but the skiers left of the cas fantastic shred and jumps with moguls forming right down to chicken gully and the cas load area, fantastic screaming down this from the cas unload to the load station. Get out the way - old guy coming through!

Graeme

Our tracks on the east ptarmigan just as the cloud was lifting


Compare this picture of the traverse with one from the other day, Look at the top of the lady. A lot of snow has fallen.


ZigZag with snow cannon, instantly froze up your glasses as you skied through the plume. Colin was there offering a goggle wiping service but it only appeared to be being offered to ladies called Susan :O


The end of the cas shred area with bumps forming, excellent!


end of day ski to the car park, much improved. Just look at the lady and the cas area!








Edited 1 times. Last edit at 18.52hrs Thu 11 Feb 16 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: East Ptarmigan Tracks.JPG (200kB)   Burnside.JPG (274kB)   Travers from Cas.JPG (230kB)   ZigZag.JPG (239kB)   cas bumps.JPG (263kB)  

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Edited 2 times. Last edit at 16.58hrs Fri 12 Feb 16 by WindyMiller.

It was Shona's day off to-day so it was off into the mid term mayhem.
It was busy but only like a normal Saturday. The queues were not bad and fairly self regulating. The M1 had up to three lines and worked fairly well.

How often do you hear me complain about CG, not often, but here goes.
The one exception with the lifts was the cas. This was an absolute shambles, no one had a clue what they were meant to be doing and there seemed to be three areas feeding the lift and tempers were fraying. I did mention it to the lifty and he said it was fine, sorry but it was not fine at all. I was told there were going to be two or three lifties manning this area, today there was one, bad show indeed. Just wait till tomorrow with the full force of midterm in swing.

Anyway, the skiing.

The cloud level was lower than yesterday with a bitter wind chill. The snow had freshened up allowing fresh tracks on the east ptarmigan. The wind progressively strengthened through out the day and then heavy snow started causing a mass exodus from the upper runs into the cas. Surprisingly the white lady was in the shelter. If you could put up with the journey up the M1, the last 1/3 was hold on for dear life, it was an excellent ski especially on skiers right of the marker poles. The accumulating snow has improved the coverage again.

The cas run was busy in the afternoon with classes trying to get shelter. Both sides of the tow line have excellent cover and was being utilised.

With the improvement on the lower slopes many folks were skiing top to bottom and getting the train back up. Very little waiting for the train.

We noticed the car park tow was being worked on and was spinning for a while but not open to the public yet. Good to see the big snow cannon pumping out snow on the lower runs.

A good day but called it around 14:45 as the weather was just getting silly.

Now the question is, do I go up again tomorrow and have a laugh at the mid termers or stay in bed?

Graeme

Top bowls very good indeed.


Lower cloud level to start with, snow lovely, bitterly cold


The cas area is filling in nicely but still thin in places. The gun barrel is still like a half pipe.


Best run of the day, the white lady. Much improved coverage and in the lee of the wind.


Ski to car park, literally to the car door!




Edited 1 times. Last edit at 17.09hrs Fri 12 Feb 16 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: Ski to Carpark.JPG (332kB)   cas.JPG (202kB)   Upper Bowl.JPG (195kB)   White lady.JPG (182kB)   Ptarmigan.JPG (212kB)