UKH

How readily do high buttresses on the Ben rime-up? Asking for a friend obvs...

Ok, I'm not. Next Friday to Sunday is the first time I've had chance to have a long weekend in Scotland just for winter climbing in over a decade, and of course the weather doesn't want to play nice.

It looks like the temperature might be ok up high, but it looks like only Wednesday will the prevailing winds be blowing onto the cliffs. Some light snow forecast after that but I'm trying to guess whether something like No. 3 Gully Buttress will be wintery enough for a potential target... Do the high crags in Coire na Ciste rime up even if they aren't in the wind?

Thanks in advance to any experienced ephemra chasers with any insights into this!

Bank the brownie points for later in the season

If you're not already aware of it, hourly photos from the CIC hut give a good idea of current conditions:

https://twitter.com/cicwebcam

(Though unfortunately there aren't any photos of next weekend yet.)

Yeah but not facing in the right direction unfortunately. Hasn't been too many clear views in recent days either! 

I have also commented, camera facing wrong cliff!

Are you staying in CIC for a few days? I also think looking at forecast, rocks won't be very white, should be freezing thought. I had hoped to get out Wednesday or  Thursday, perhaps Saturday will be better though?

Happy New Year

Stuart

Happy New Year to you too!

No accommodation arranged as yet. A tent somewhere if nothing else! We haven't picked where we are going yet, totally conditions dependent, but was just looking at the Met Office summit forecasts, the west looks to be a few degrees colder than the east interestingly. They've actually improved a wee bit from earlier in consistently freezing temperatures around 1000 mtrs, and its going to snow a little tomorrow and thursday... so I've not given up hope completely.

Foggy tonight and tomorrow on the Ben + sub zero temps, there's got to be some frost forming (he says with lots of fingers crossed!).

It's summer conditions at the moment. Cant imagine it will have changed too much by then

All this effort for plodding up gullies with death from above...