General Situation // Scottish Ski & Winter Activity Report // Winterhighland

The autumn roller coaster is in full swing, with tantalising snow storms followed by wild swings in temperature and heavy rain. However, slowly some snow is starting to accumulate, with CairnGorm probably fairing best with the ferocious SE winds associated with Storm Bert driving snow off the Plateau into suitably aligned streams, gullies and fences before the temperature rose later on Saturday.

Midweek the Highlands are enjoying a chilly fine spell before sadly damp / driech conditions look set to move in for Friday to give a mild and pretty blustery weekend with Southerly Gales through the weekend. However by Monday, the freezing level will be back down to or below the lower slopes with snow showers coming in on North to NW wind once again.

At Glencoe, the Access Chairlift reopened for the winter season last Thursday. Note the sledge park is not yet prepared as the machine made snow will not be pushed out until more natural snow accumulates or the weather settles down. The Plateau Cafe is not yet open for the season and is expected to open early December, the White Corries cafe at the base is open till 4.30pm during November.

At Nevis Range the mountain gondola is generally open Wed to Sun through November and December until Sunday 22nd December, however it will not operate before Saturday this week. Gondola will operate daily from Boxing Day through Sunday 5th January, after which all facilities at Nevis Range are currently planned to close until early February.

Elsewhere all uplift facilities are closed until snowsports commences. The Daylodge is open on CairnGorm for snacks / drinks / toilets providing the ski road is open.

The Lecht has been closest to having skiable cover so far this autumn, but alas the unconsolidated baseless new snow was little match to the blast furnace of Storm Berts warm sector and only small patches of hard old snow remain.

:: Warren Millers SEVENTY FIVE

We are now touring the UK with the 75th Warren Miller snowsports film tour through mid February 2025! One lucky film goer to our Glasgow Warren Miller premiere left with a 2024/25 Ski Scotland 4 Area Pass in the intermission prize giveaway and we have two more to give away in the national sweepstakes.

Upcoming screenings:

Cardiff // Chapter Arts // Sun 1 Dec (1.30pm)
Inverness // Eden Court // Tue 3 Dec
Fort William // Highland Cinema // Thu 5 Dec
Dundee // DCA Cinema // Mon 9 Dec
Crieff // Strathearn Arts // Thu 12 Dec
Poole // Lighthouse // Fri 13 Dec

The tour will take a break over the festive period before hitting the road again in January, with numerous shows in Northern England as well as further Scottish screenings in Inverness, Aberfeldy, Perth and Stirling.

More dates are expected to be added for January by mid December.

Get Tickets NOW: www.warrenmiller.co.uk .

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:: England Club Fields

All club fields are waiting for the first skiable snow of the new season.

Please check club access rules / availability if not a club member / pass holder.

Weardale: https: //skiweardale.com/ .
Allenheads: http://ski-allenheads.co.uk/ .
Yad Moss: https: //yadmoss.co.uk/ .
Raise: https: //www.ldscsnowski.co.uk/ .

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:: Lowther Hills Ski Club Update

Sadly the on mountain facilities of Lowther Hills Ski Club in Southern Scotland have been dismantled, thus our summit webcam was removed from service in June. It may still be possible to operate the portable rope tows in the villages going forward, but new volunteers with requisite engineering / mechanical background are required for the club to continue.

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:: Mountain Weather

At 10pm in the West at the base of Glencoe at 366m the temperature was -3.6°c, while near the summit at 1097m it was -5.1°c with a light SE breeze..

The Met Office Summit Run AWS on Aonach Mor (1130m) reported -6.1°c with an East wind at 9 gusting 14 mph.

In the East the CairnGorm Met Office Summit AWS (408ft/1245m) was at -5.2°c with a NE wind at 14 gusting 17 mph. Aviemore was at -2.8°c. The Cairnwell AWS reported -4.1°c at 3061ft, with a NE wind at a mean of 17 gusting 19 mph.

Our webcams at Glencoe update from just before 8am, the Leadhills webcam in the Borders updates 24/7.

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:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

The chilly but fine midweek spell of weather is sadly not going to last into the weekend, so Thursday looks like the best day for doing some outside activities before cloud builds, and both wind and temperature ratchet up with rain showers moving in during Friday.

A mild and damp weekend, the best of the overhead to the North of the main ranges where some brighter spells may develop between showers as cloud breaks up. Further South and SW, lower cloud bases and fairly dreich conditions look more likely. FL above the tops with Munro Level temperature between +3 and +6°c Friday through the weekend. Strong, frequently Gale South to SW winds.

Currently looks likely that colder air will start to return from Sunday afternoon in the West, with a wintry mix late in the day in the West Highlands. By Monday, the freezing level should be back around or slightly below the lower slopes, with snow showers coming in a North to NW wind.

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:: Webcams and Weather Stations

Lowther Hill: Leadhills webcam online 24/7. Lowther Hill Summit webcam withdrawn due to removal of club infrastructure from the hill.

GLENCOE: Most webcams are online and the first updated images will be from around 8am. Summit and Base AWS online with no issues.

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