Thursday, December 16, 2010

Bitterly Cold and Windy

At the snow pit site on the South East side of Cairngorm - bitterly cold and windy !!
The old snowpack has refrozen completely and is very hard, the new snow is building very rapidly in the strong winds and is pretty poorly bonded in itself, surface cracking when walking, indicating weak layers below. Layers of Graupel are the culprit. So the new snow is pretty weak wherever it is lying. The old snow is providing really good snow ice and good climbing conditions.