Posted by This is the second of the winter climbing conditions reports that we are going to post for the 2012/13 winter season.
On Saturday 8th December, Dunc and I headed to Ben Eighe. The forecast was not ideal, with a temporary thaw on it’s way but we tried to be optimistic and hope for the best. The forecast suggested that the freezing level would be hovering around the summits so we hoped that it may just float around the base of the coire and allow things to stay frozen for climbing. It didn’t!! There was rain at all levels throughout the day and I was amazed to see how quickly things had thawed out. The snowpack was very saturated and there was lots of avalanche debris around. The walk in was hard going in deep and soft snow and the crags were dripping wet with no routes climbable. Fortunately the thaw is not supposed to last long and with a return to cold weather this week conditions could quickly start to become good again.
Remember to be aware of avalanche risk and check the up to date SAIS avalanche blog and avalanche forecasts
The MWIS give up to date mountain weather forecasts for all UK mountain areas
For those of you on Twitter remember to #tag your Scottish winter conditions tweets tweets with #scotwinter and follow @scotwinter
Climbing Gear Reviews 