A bit of a challenging day on the mountain. The wind was strong and the wind chill was silly degrees below, even mountain man Les was cold and that is saying something.

The strong wind was stripping the snow off the runs, especially areas such as Jeans Bowl and the Fiacaill Ridge. There was constant drifting on the upper runs giving growing drifts down the fence lines.

It was not our most enjoyable day on the hill but we did find some nice skiing. Believe it or not one of the best runs was the Ciste Fairway. Soft snow was collecting down left of the right hand fence creating a powder stash aprox 1m wide the full length of the run. This created a narrow corridor for fast short swings. Some synchronised skiing was required.

On the up side there were no queues, every one went home!

We will need to see what the runs are like once the wind subsides. West Wall Poma and Fiacaill Poma did not run due to the wind. Surprisingly the M1 did though by the afternoon few people would use it.

Graeme

The Ciste Fairway, powder stash to be found along fence line.


Getting into the Traverse was a challenge. Once in there was trouble moving.


Relief after getting to the end of the traverse. Look at the snow blowing off the top corner.


That is not mist or cloud in the picture. It is all the lovely soft snow from the lower slopes, Jeans Bowl and the Ridge run heading off to Aviemore.


This made me smile. We met this chap, George. He had not skied Cairngorm since long before the funicular was built so he tagged on with us. An excellent skier, his style matched his straight skis, rear entry boots and all in one suit,perpendicular and skis clamped together. His short swing technique was out of an 1970 text book. Very nice to watch.







Edited 1 times. Last edit at 14.37hrs Sun 21 Jan 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: Traverse wind.JPG (177kB)   1980.JPG (185kB)   Traverse.JPG (165kB)   Ciste Fairway.JPG (168kB)   Snow Blowing.JPG (173kB)  

I saw George skiing yesterday and thought exactly the same as you - watching him skiing was like watching a clip from the 70’s. Lovely clean technique - until he fell on his way to the White Lady. No room for error with that narrow stance!

1st day skiing this year ... Boy was it windy, I can only remember a couple of days as bad as that when I've skied before (both at Cairngorm). I had my 10 yr old daughter with me, and got to say I was impressed by how little she gurned considering how bad it was. Had to laugh at the funicular driver still saying after lunch that the wind chill was only -10 ... -30 more like. We left at 2pm, and the road off the hill was pretty bad then. We still had a not bad day though.

I don't suppose you get any refund for Cairngorm closing for half the afternoon do you? (I bought a 4 day pass)

A refund will get someone the sack up there..

I'd gut that snow factory, chop the roof aff, stick an axle on it and get over tae Glencoe car park wi some shovels...

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Edited 1 times. Last edit at 19.53hrs Wed 24 Jan 18 by superman.

And then the sun came out. After three days of steadily increasing wind cumulating in yesterdays major storm and shut down of the mountain the weather finally broke by about 10:30 this morning giving a lovely day with little wind.

The snow pack has gone hard after yesterdays rain though the pisting has broken it up giving a reasonable surface. Death cookies were in abundance ready to catch the unaware. By the afternoon most of these had been munched and generally good skiing on all runs. The wind with freeze/ thaw has done its job with most runs now complete with wide cover between the fences. Out side of the fences in the unpisted zones the snow is spars and hard.

There had been some fresh snow and some runs had gained, especially down the fence lines. The cas in particular has caught the fresh snow, skiers left of the fence line.

The ciste was off first thing while the machines patched a hole in the middle of the fairway, once done the lift opened. The WWP opened about 15:00 after a technical fault on the new unload station. This allowed us two runs before it closed again at 16:00. Thanks to Colin for keeping it open a bit longer to allow us the extra run.
The skiing to use the WWP is the M2 and over yonder. Both are in good condition. Tomorrow they hope to open the ciste gully.

The M2 is still holding its head high and the day lodge is much improved with only a small area of brown snow, easy to ski.

The white lady is nice, a little firm but ok. M1 death cookies, best avoided.

The fiacaill is still holding on in there and ran all day as did the M1.

There have been some questions why the cas t-bar is not running. The run is now wide on both sides of the fence and the load and unload areas have been prepared. The issue the path passing through the gun barrel area, it is sloping significantly. If general members of the public were using it the chance of them slipping off side ways into the gun barrel is a high possibly hurting them self but more importantly they could damage the lift More snow is needed to flatten out the tow path.

A good day on the mountain with most terrain open. Tomorrow looks good then back to yuck at the weekend.

This is my last post for 10 days or so, off to Tignes. They appear to be having their own problems at the moment with too much snow so fingers crossed we get there!

Any one want to step up and post pictures for the next week or so?

Graeme


Evening sun set. No matter how often you see this it is still spectacular.


White lady firm under foot though good skiing


The cas is wide on both side of the fence. The reason the lift is not running is the angle of the tow path as it passes along side the gun barrel. Its ready to dump an unexpected person sideways.


Over yonder from the M2, soft snow down to the WWP


The half pipe construction has started, park rats at the ready!











Edited 1 times. Last edit at 18.39hrs Thu 25 Jan 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: cas.JPG (186kB)   whitelady.JPG (197kB)   halfpipe.JPG (185kB)   Overyonder.JPG (231kB)   Evening.JPG (236kB)  

Any update on the snow factory trials?

Snow survival, operating hours, creation above zero?

IMO it is only being trialed as a means to keep a beginner area for standing classes.

surely people don't think its there to provide cover over the whole mountain? providing guaranteed learner areas is the most important part for a mountain

Did my post state anything about full mountain coverage? No

Merely interested in the trial and see if the snow factory is a useful addition.

Does anyone have any links to the Scottish Ski Clubs proposal to fund a new 1.4 million white lady surface lift? It was reported in the strathspeys herald on 11-1-18 (read the article on Parkwatch ) but I can’t find much information. Would be interested to see if the plan is to construct it in the exact same location or alter it due to the fanicular position / up track snow holding.

Same line basically but different termination point due to extension of WWP. The proposed cost for a new surface lift is somewhat more than the cost of the second hand triple Plateau Chair coming at Glencoe and 2/3rds the cost of the proposed new Cairnwell Quad at Glenshee.

It should be noted that unlike the other lifts removed from CairnGorm, the White Lady Tow didn’t fall victim to the core lift policy. It’s usage however collapsed because of the Funicular’s impact on snow lie. It literally fell out of use with a catastrophic failure!

For lots of reasons a new lift should be built there, but it should not be a surface lift. A new White Lady T-bar would be an act of stupidity frankly, a fantastic opputunity squandered.

A chair despite the wind factor would be able to run more often. With snow making around the Sheiling a chair would provide greater uplift capacity to all levels of skiers and boarders who can use top to middle runs in Coire Cas and restore the Sheiling to being a real mountain hub.

Better to spend the money proposed for the Ptarmigan at the Sheiling which is far more often below the cloud than the Ptarmigan. More restaurant for your bucks leaving more cash to go for a chair not a T-bar.

Any thoughts on the value of the snow factory?

I haven't been since they had it so can't comment on how effective it was but can't help thinking the money would be better spent on more snow cannons. Anyone know how many snow cannons could be purchased for the cost of a snow factory?

First day back on the mountain after getting home from Tignes last night.The mountain is look pretty good, all lifts were running except the car park and day lodge though the runs are open.
There is fresh snow down to the village and accumulations occurring during the heavy showers that were passing through. The visibility did vary during the snow but most of the day was fairly clear except above the tunnel mouth where the clag stubbornly sat.

The runs are well pisted with fresh on top. The cas is the biggest changer since I went away. It has filled in well, full width both sides of the fence and boulder field though the gun barrel is a bit v-shape. The snow is very nice.

The ciste gully is open and a good ski down to the traverse to the WWP. I am sure you could make your way down to the car park with combat skiing but we did not try. If you want to ski to the ciste car park I think the better way would be via Ritta's Ridge. Over yonder has a worn area in the middle. It may have been the pistie beasty that churned up a thin area but easy to get around.

The Aonach Bowl is full of snow and we headed in from the M2. It was not as nice as it looked. The snow is wide and deep but wind blown and slabby, we only tried it once as the chance of catching a ski was high.

We were hoping the clag was going to lift to give an opportunity to head east of the ptarmigan but it was not to be.

The best ski of the day was the Fiacaill Ridge and into Jeans Bowl. The fresh in these areas was fun and with the sun breaking though at the end of the day we had to do them a number of times.

Loads of ways to get back to the car park from the Fiacaill, the car park run, burn side and the day lodge. The day lodge is a bit thin at the bottom but looks ok.

Graeme

The ciste gully is open, unpisted but excellent in the fresh snow.


Mid mountain overview, wide cover with a good base.


The cas is the biggest change in the last week. It is wide on each side of the fence.


Heading out the Fiacaill traverse. Fresh tracks every time.


Jeans Bowl was so good it had to be done over and over. Earlier in the day with the poor vis it was a bit of a challenge. In the afternoon sun it was great.






Edited 2 times. Last edit at 18.41hrs Tue 6 Feb 18 by WindyMiller.

Attachments: Ciste Gully.JPG (165kB)   cas.JPG (188kB)   Fiacaill.JPG (180kB)   Jeans Bowl.JPG (171kB)   Mid Mountain.JPG (186kB)  

Aye, I went up today for a ski. looking good, snow was fantastic and staff very helpfully. Keep the good work up lads.