eBothy Blog

The Avalanche information service SAIS have been warning about the very still, calm conditions that have been the norm over the last fortnight or so in the Scottish mountains. This lets phenomenally beautiful but deadly crystals grow in the still air:

With Dawn doing her stint with the rellies this year I got the call from Graeme that he was heading up north for new year and would I like to spend a couple of nights at Coire Fhionnairigh bothy with a day on the hill. So on boxing day I fired up the old banger and drove across to Culags, slotting the car into a vacant hole in the snow left by a previous vehicle. It’s been subzero here for almost two weeks with a huge amount of snow at the side of the roads and very very hard ice on the paths.

Christmas Eve, blue skies, barely a breath of wind and the fishing boats on Loch Eishort following leads through the ice to reach harbour. Is this what it’ll be like if the Gulf Stream diverts? It’s been sub-zero for the last week with stunning views in very clear air and snow from sea level to summit in every direction. So I thought it would be a good idea to get out in it for a bimble and the NE ridge of Beinn na Caillich promised some sport at Grade I if it was in nick and not just all powder. You tend to get that these days. Lots of unconsolidated powder snow.

Gaiku (Gaelic Haiku)

Solas fuar na
Gealach Gheamhraidh ‘s reòthadh
geal air an talamh

Cold light of
The Winter Moon and frost
white on the land

Snowed in twice in a week! This is the frozen north, it usually doesn’t snow that much as we’re on the coast but snowed in again we are! Couldn’t ask for a better view though.

I woke up this morning to a fair bit of snow, enough to make my status “snowed in” as the hill out of the village is too steep for the car, so I decided to bimble up Beinn nan Carn and hopefully catch a blizzard or two on the way, as great roving snow showers were scouring the land. It had been a wild day yesterday, with a tiny warm front dumping the majority of the snow, followed by a cold front catching it up, raising the clouds up and banging them against the stratosphere to empty them of their cargo of hail and snow. As the wind increased to force 8 the bins danced a merry jig round the garden to the applause of the slates and the snow on the roof laughed so much it slid off when I lit the fire!

I’m doing the OU short course, Understanding The Weather and the assignment requires me to wait for a front to be forecast passing the area and then log the weather at hourly intervals throughout the day. Well, I couldn’t have asked for a better weather system than this!

A small warm front ahead of a cold front or perhaps occluded depending on how it pans out. Around 11:30 this morning I took this vid of Beinn nan Carn:

Definitely a front!

I was idly browsing January’s TGO, yes it’s only December but the mag is a month ahead and alongside the usual excellent content, there was an article on winter navigation. Now, as I’m heading for Winter ML assessment next winter (consolidation this winter), I took note of some points, especially the bit where it said that 6 index contours in 1cm on a 1:50,000 map is a slope angle of 30deg. That’s the most common angle for big avalanches, so it helps to be able to spot one on the map when you’re planning your day out in the winter mountains. Where does that number come from though? Well, with the rain lashing the windows and the gale rattling the slates (bit wild at the eBothy today), I thought I’d brush up some ancient maths skills to find out.