On Facebook where the last update said:





Edited 1 times. Last edit at 20.42hrs Sat 14 Apr 18 by alan.

Attachments: Screen Shot 2018-04-14 at 21.41.17.png (66kB)  

I read that when I was back at the car once the lifts had shut and thought it must have been mistake because there was well more than 100 there. It's been changed to 1000 which is probably more realistic.

The pomas had a steady stream of folk but seldom more than 3 or 4 folk waiting in front to get on them.

There are still so many runs to ski that folk just spread out. I only crossed paths with Windy and co a couple of times over the whole day and never saw the Inverness regulars till the last half hour.

Fabulous spring snow

Helen

Obviously 45 Commando were there today (and all season) fully attired in snow camouflage and well hidden in the pictures and from the public. This years skier day numbers will include them. HIE will be well chuffed and pour cash into Wilmslow because its local ain't it?

Disappointing to see little numbers on the hill. Why are no deals being offered to swell the numbers?

I've been up in Grantown on holiday for the last week so managed to get in a few days' skiing at Cairngorm for the first time in 3 years.
All I can say is it was great, it really was a joy to ski there again.

The Ciste side was magic, the effort being put in on that side to piste various East Wall descents and also a decent boardwalk replacement route back towards the WWP was far better than last time I went there, when I'd vowed never to go back.

Ops1 was also putting in a shift loading on the Cas T-bar on Thursday, but all the lifties were brilliant.

A lot more to be done to get it back to being the flagship Scottish ski centre it once was, obviously notably on uplift investment, but in terms of the staff on the hill doing the best with what they currently have, they did a great job.

Hopefully along with Glencoe and Nevis Range, they'll aim for 7th May closure.

They said 100 people which I thought was very modest given the Cas car park was fairly full and there were a couple of coaches.

Does anyone have statistics on total number of days offering top to Daylodge skiing? We must have had almost 5 months continuous this season?

It was a typo Bog Biker. It's been edited. The mountain was definitely busy. I agree with Hilly, there is so much terrain open that everyone is spread out. It was a fantastic day yesterday, The Ops team have done a brilliant job this year, its the middle of April and you can still ski back to the car park. Well done. A big shout out to the friendly lifties too.

The top level of the Car Carpark was not full. There would have been a significant numbers of walkers, climbers and tourers out, as well as people just up for a look and funicular sightseers.

If there was 1000 skiers up yesterday then around 600 must have come up on the number 31 bus and they must have been averaging 1 or 2 runs an hour and the Ptarmigan must have been mega busy with all the coffee and cake stops! Because given the lower slopes would primarily have been used for access and return, having 1000 skiers circulating regularly on the available lift capacity would have meant the mid and top lifts running close to capacity, with pretty solid lines of skiers going uphill and as some would be more popular than others some would have had noticeable though not huge queues.

CML had many weeks of extensive snow cover to the Ciste Carpark where the Laogh Mor Return and the Aonach/Ritas Ridge routes could have been groomed, marked and given fantastic riding back to 1800ft with shuttle buses running through much of the core of the season. Ditto with the East Wall.

That didn't happen, suddenly after a fairly considerable thaw of lower level snow, suddenly the machines spent several days rebuilding the Laogh Mor Return, shuttle bus put on and for the first few days nobody told and used only by a few season pass holders in the know. If they had told people in advance of the first weekend it was done it could have had a decent impact on getting more people to CairnGorm.

So why wasn't it done when there was far more extensive snow cover and greater demand for snow sports? Why the negative noises about the snow factory which reportedly arrived broken at the Lecht where it has been very successful?

A couple of things happened just before the Laogh Mor and East Wall grooming blitz. A meeting between HIE and the Community Trust and a planning application lodged for a dry slope, the latter a proposal for which a successful snow factory trial would presumably be unhelpful to? Coincidences?

I smell shite and it's not coming from the shite farm below the lower carpark.

Lets play spot the thousand skiers on the busy mountain:

A bit of a novelty, two exceptional days in a row sunny and very warm. The difference today was the hair drier wind was dialled up to 11. The snow was softer from the beginning of the day making all run accessible early on. The one delay was while they patched the return from the Ciste Gully back to the west wall poma, this allowed us to lap the M2 and Aonach Bowl.

With the hair dryer running at max puddles were forming at most levels, especially the middle of the ptarmigan bowl which got decidedly wet at the end of the day. The best snow by far is still the east side of the Ciste and the Gully though the Lady is a close second. There are few holes appearing to skiers right of the Lady and below the M1 poma cut off where the burn is breaking through. The load area of the West Wall Poma was getting a bit worn in places but there is loads of snow to be moved around still.

The Lady had very nice large soft bumps appearing skiers right, very enjoyable for we old bump skiers. Srill easy access to the East of the Lady and this is mid April!

Black Cat Alley remained firmer than most runs providing fast steep skiing and plenty of alternative routes left and right for good variety.

Even with the puddles and holes appearing the skiing is still extensive and very enjoyable. I can not understand why so many people wish to cram the slopes in January in atrocious weather when they can have a Mid April weekend like this with virtually no queues. At 12:35 there were empty tables in the Ptarmigan restaurant.

At the end of the day we still managed to ski to the car park though it is getting a bit tricky in places, thin, narrow and wet.
Watch the weather over the next few days, it could be a challenge for late Scottish skiing.

A few people pictures going on facebook later.
[www.facebook.com]

Graeme

Looking down into the ciste gully from Black Cat Alley. This picture sort of captures the steepness of the run. It is steep!


The ciste gully, still wide and full.


For the first time this year the M2 has rocks appearing in the middle section. I believe they are keeping the machines off these areas until the temperatures drop again to avoid damaging the cover. Very easy to avoid the rocks.


The Lady, a beautiful run, wide soft snow all the way down though a few slumps into the burn at the side. My knee still twinges at the sight of them.


The lower lady still has wide cover. Watch out for a few depressions were the snow is dropping down to the burn.






Edited 1 times. Last edit at 19.51hrs Sun 15 Apr 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: M2.JPG (204kB)   Black Cat.JPG (249kB)   ciste gully.JPG (203kB)   lower lady.JPG (231kB)   white lady.JPG (221kB)  

Went up the hill full of apprehension with a strong wind blowing and the clag sitting low. We went into the base station to get out of the drizzle without putting our boots on to see the situation. There we found others doing the same so we got chatting then up came Les fully kitted and the Ciste was announced it just opened so decision made, boots on and just as well we did. After a claggy blowy start the wind subsided and the sun came out in the afternoon giving another lovely day.

The warm weather and high winds have punished the snow cover and the lower runs are now officially closed. The Fiacaill Poma is turned off with the lower runs closed though the track is still in good condition. This is the way we skied back to the car park at the end of the day, utilising the remaining patches of side slope, the fiacaill and the tow path.

The M2 has been patched up and is not so rocky now though it does go down to half width in a couple of short places. The majority it is wide and fast.

The Aonach Bowl is still very good though it is getting narrow at the bottom where it joins over yonder. This will break very soon.

The Ciste gully is still wide and deep, one issue is getting back to the West Wall Poma. It now involves heather skiing for a few meters on the road way. The West Wall Poma track is still ok but getting very wet at the load station. This is in danger of disappearing.

The Ptarmigan lift remained off all day due to the winds, not a real problem as the best skiing was in the Ciste, Cas and White Lady. The Ptarmigan bowl was very wet and loosing snow rapidly.

The rope remained across the entrance to Gully 1 and beyond to Black Cat Alley and Gully 2. A quick radio to ski patrol and we got permission to duck the rope and head over. The area had not been checked out and there are now a number of bare areas on the traverse in. The runs themselves are excellent condition though tricky to get in. I can see why they are closed to general public.

The best run of the day was the White Lady. It was not pisted and the bumps from yesterday were larger and much more fun, soft and regular all the way down. This had to be skied many times before our knees gave way. The cas was also good all day.

The snow cover is in danger now. The runs are generally fine, it is the links to the runs that are disappearing fast. The ciste and west wall tow paths are wet and thin. The forecast for the next few days is very poor, high winds and temperatures with rain. I do hope today is not our last day skiing with lifts this season. CML are hoping to continue till the bank holiday Monday on the 7th of May. I hope the bad weather does not put a stop to that. I would expect the traverse and cas to hold up to a fairly large deluge.

Graeme

By far the best run of the day was the White Lady. Still wide with bumps the full length.


The Gun Barrel is still wide and flat, easy to ski.The Cas is still in good condition.


The east side of the Ciste still has many good routes though the traverse in has bare patches . This is Black Cat Alley.


The return to the west wall poma is broken and requires a walk or heather skiing.


The lower slopes are now closed and you can see why. We got down using side slope and the ridge poma track as the lift is now closed.







Edited 2 times. Last edit at 18.47hrs Mon 16 Apr 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: west wall return.JPG (198kB)   black cat.JPG (200kB)   White Lady.JPG (204kB)   gun barrel.JPG (224kB)   Car Park Run.JPG (244kB)  

I was expecting significant snow loss after the mild storms but what greeted me this morning was a bit of a shock. The runs have been decimated. None of the tow tracks are complete and after a late start due to flooding in the Ptarmigan building, skiing was from the train with mid station stops. Not a problem as there only appeared to be 20 skiers on the mountain, I am sure Ops 1 will correct me tomorrow . I could name about 15!

The skiing available was the cas, upper zigzags, gun barrel, traverse and the white lady.
To start with there was a short 1.5m grass ski to get into the White Lady via the M1 side. The M1 tow track was quickly patched by ski patrol and we started to use that to enter the Lady at the railway underpass.

The Lady had a raging torrent of water running down it causing significant erosion. Patrol managed to divert the flow allowing a good run right down to the mid station. It is still wide and deep and fairly firm nice spring snow.

The traverse to the cas is still wide and deep though the cas has a few water features half way down. The gun barrel is good and flat. The cas tow path has a couple of breaks but by the look of it, it may be salvageable if the temperatures drop. But are there enough people to justify the work and we just use the train?

The top zigzag is surprisingly wide and deep though the connection to the gun barrel is thin and wet and was being patched.

The talk from the ops staff is they will try to get the ptarmigan tow operational. The Ptarmigan traverse is still wide and dry though the bowl is a swimming pool.

The consensus was both the lady and cas were providing very enjoyable skiing though there was a general stripping off of clothes at mid station as the temperatures rocketed, 16oC in the car park at the end of the day. The generally accepted mountain temperature gauge of hotness is when Hilly takes off her gloves to ski. They were well and truly off!

A few pictures going on face book later.
[www.facebook.com]

Graeme

Ptarmigan traverse is still in good condition. They hope to be able to open the t-bar to allow access.


The white lady is still wide and fun though you have to use the M1 tow path to get on to it. A few hazards to watch out for with running water.


A torrent of water has caused erosion at the side of the white lady.


Still a good cover on the traverse.


The top two zigzags are wide and dry though the connection to the gun barrel is thin and wet.









Edited 1 times. Last edit at 18.26hrs Thu 19 Apr 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: Traverse.JPG (180kB)   ptarmigan traverse.JPG (217kB)   burn erosion.JPG (185kB)   white lady.JPG (242kB)   zigzags.JPG (230kB)  

With the exceptional temperatures yesterday I was prepared to-day with no thermals, only one jumper and a soft shell. Got kitted up, no gloves or hat in the strong sunshine and headed up, then it clouded over and I was cold along with everyone else that had dressed the same. Oh well thats April skiing for you. Glad I packed more clothes in my backpack.

Many more people on the mountain today, 60. I was wrong with my number yesterday, there were 22 not 20. In my defence two had gone home early with the closure of the train mid morning while they sorted out the flood.

The boys have been pushing around massive amounts of snow and have made the Ptarmigan bowl skiable again and the tow path usable. This opened up the upper traverse and bowl. The park has been reduced from two to one large kicker along with the smaller ones.

The traverse visually has not changed but the cas has, it appears much narrower in its mid section. The gun barrel and top zigzag are still fine.

Similar to yesterday the entrance to the White Lady is via the M1 tow path to the top underpass. This is a bit unnerving for some as the track is steep and narrow with a fence on both sides, no room for any error in your short swings. Some were side slipping much of the way which was scraping the cover away.
Once in the Lady is still very nice with crunchy spring snow.

The team closed the lady at 14:00 this afternoon to prepare it for the FIS race tomorrow. Apparently it will be closed much of tomorrow.

The team have made an excellent effort repairing the available runs but if you are planning to ski tomorrow I would seriously think about Glencoe instead of Cairngorm unless you do not mind being limited to the Ptarmigan area or a narrow cas. Or take your skins if you have touring kit to give access to the Ciste side. By Sunday the race will be over and weather dependant the Lady will be open again.

A few rain showers passed through, frozen rain at the top, in the afternoon so it was early home.

One or two pictures on face book later.
[www.facebook.com]

Graeme

Ptarmigan traverse holding up well.


Huge amounts of snow have been pushed around to get a route back to the t-bar.


Lady providing good sport, crunchy spring snow.


Easy to get back from the Lady to mid station.


Gun barrel full of snow though the cas is quite narrow further up.






Edited 1 times. Last edit at 16.54hrs Fri 20 Apr 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: Under Pass.JPG (258kB)   Ptarmigan Traverse.JPG (214kB)   Ptarmigan Bowl.JPG (229kB)   Lady.JPG (195kB)   Gun Barrel.JPG (225kB)  

Another warm sunny day with variable winds from gentle breeze to strongish then back to gentle. The snow crunched up over night giving a very nice surface to ski though it softened very quickly in the strong sunshine.

As expected the Lady was closed most of the day for the FIS racing so we were limited to the Ptarmigan area, the Traverse, Cas, Gun Barrel and the top zigzag. This was quite pleasant though not very challenging. We got a bit creative with the snow field above the Ptarmigan Restaurant which remained firm most of the day.

The Cas is getting very narrow in the middle then widens up into the gun barrel. The traverse is still fine.

The park rats were swarming on the freshened up park and just to spice things up the OAP ski club decided to have a go. The trouble is if one of us falls we do not bounce any more, more a splinter into a thousand pieces like a fine wine glass. Luckily this was not the case though and I did manage reasonable air off the big kicker and a fancy twist off the side ramp. After three runs we though we were chancing our luck and went off to rub liniment on our old joints.

The Lady opened after the race around 15:00 and the access was via the M1 tow path. This was fine for us but few were not happy with the steep narrow run down to the under pass, a bit unnerving with the fence on both sides. Once in the Lady it was a good ski, the ground team had prepared it well for the race and the lower temperatures last night allowed it to firm up. Even late on in the afternoon it was still 70% firm.

Still plenty of areas for beginners, intermediates and a little advance on the Lady but if you want lessons you do have to book in advance. The off piste is now very limited and does involve a bit of walking if you are getting adventurous.

Prices and conditions of next years seasons passes are now on their website.

More pictures on face book later.
[www.facebook.com]

Graeme

Ptarmigan Traverse, nice snow field to the right of the picture.


Upper Traverse, a few obstacles but quite skiable.


White Lady, nicely prepared.


The Cas is quite narrow in the middle.


The Cas opens up into the wide gun barrel.







Edited 1 times. Last edit at 17.33hrs Sat 21 Apr 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: White Lady.JPG (238kB)   Upper Traverse.JPG (224kB)   Ptarmigan Traverse.JPG (204kB)   Mid Cas.JPG (246kB)   Gun Barrel.JPG (248kB)  

A day of sun and showers, not unpleasant but not a day for hanging around when the showers were on. The forecast is to get colder from now and possibly more snow on the tops, we do need it to keep the runs. The Ptarmigan bowl+traverse, Cas and Lady are still holding on in there and are giving nice skiing, not soggy at all. Nice spring crunchy snow.

Lots of fence post knocking going on. The team are making the most of the snow to get the machine in to the awkward areas and bash in as many posts as possible.

The weather forecast is not looking good for the next few day. It is going to be a case of check the weather each morning and the end of day reports each evening.

Politics of who is running or not running the mountain aside there is one guy and his team that get very little acknowledgement. This year in particular they have done some creative things that have enhanced our skiing significantly, especially on the east side of the ciste and the return route to the west wall poma. PB1 otherwise known as Adam is head of the piste bashers. He and the team are constantly looking for different ways of doing things. He is well respected by the company that produces the machines, so much so he is invited to give talks and demonstrations at other centres abroad. Yesterday they turned a lumpy White Lady into an FIS compatible race course with less than 24 hours notice. They are the guys that turn up at 04:00 in the morning and are often still there at 17:00 seven days a week during the season, that is above and beyond. Any one can run a tracked vehicle up and down a slope but it takes skill and science to turn porridge and ice into corduroy. Some say thats their job but there is doing your job and really doing your job. Adam and his team are up there. Next time you see them a thanks does go a long way, they make our day.

Graeme

Thanks Adam.


Heavy sky over the ptarmigan. Nice spring snow.


The traverse still in good condition.


A bit of snow pushing to keep the connection to the cas skiable


The upper lady is still wide, lower down is getting narrow in a couple of places then opens up again.








Edited 1 times. Last edit at 15.26hrs Sun 22 Apr 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: Upper Cas.JPG (230kB)   Traverse.JPG (214kB)   Ptarmigan.JPG (152kB)   Lady.JPG (247kB)   Adam.JPG (373kB)