Wind stops play
22nd December 2024
After getting hit by a particularly violent gust of wind at just over 500 metres today I decided that it was time to turn round and descend. While other extremes of weather (rain, snow, cold) can be dealt with mainly by wearing suitable clothing, there’s nothing that can be done to make traveling in the mountains in very strong winds safe so sometimes, like today, staying away is the sensible decision. The wind speeds at the Bealach na Ba which is the closest weather station at a similar altitude are shown below, peaking at 75 mph average and gusts of 94 mph at midday. I was on the ‘sheltered’ side of Beinn Alligin and while the average wind speeds I experienced were less than the Bealach na Ba I suspect that the gusts were of a similar strength.
Wind speeds at the Bealach na Ba today (773 metres).
Heavy showers overnight and today have fallen as snow on the mountains with poorly bonded windslab developing in sheltered locations and fragile cornices developing.
Photos below showing what could be seen of the conditions, but views limited as the higher summits remained in cloud all day.
Liathach from the East.
Liathach from the West.
Coir’ nan Laogh, Beinn Alligin
Looking across Upper Loch Torridon to Beinn Damh.
Beinn Eighe from the East.
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