A Windswept Landscape
1st February 2023
The bulk of the fresh snow forecast for last night as wintry showers has been blown to lower more wind sheltered locations, leaving most summits and higher wind exposed terrain scoured. Isolated, mostly shallow pockets of graupel composed windslab exist in hollows such as crag aprons and sheltered gullies and runnels. Mild, wet and windy tomorrow!
(Above) The east end of Beinn Eighe; Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe on the left, Creag Dhubh on the right. The wind scoured slope below and right of the summit of Creag Dhubh, although should be relatively sheltered from the prevailing wind, is bare due to eddying (rotor winds) in very strong winds off the summit and surrounding ridges. The vast majority of snow in the central coire is well consolidated, firm old snow.
(Above 2 photos) Coire an Laoigh, Beinn Eighe from near and afar and was the location for today’s snowpack observations. Again, most snow is of firm refrozen old snow. The highest summit is the Munro of Spidean Coire nan Clach (993m.) with the sharp lesser summit of Stuc Coire an Laoigh on the left (840m.).
(Above) The windblown summit of Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe (963m.).
(Above) Most fresh snow was found at mid elevations. Good to have a bit of craic with a fellow mountaineer on his way up onto the main ridge.
(Above) The south aspect of Liathach.
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