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

The current mild and benign weather (causing some stonking inversion temperatures with it being 14°c at the Daylodge level on CairnGorm this morning) will gradually breakdown during the coming week as both pressure and temperature starts to fall.

For Sunday and at least the first half of the week no real change in the snow situation is expected, snowsports will remain restricted to magic carpet nursery slopes at the Lecht and CairnGorm at carpark level, with the only limited progression terrain being the former Plastic Slope run at Glenshee.

The cold spell that started 2025 ended in fairly spectacular fashion with a near 30°c swing in temperature within 48 hours at Altnaharra which recorded the lowest UK temperature of the winter so far of -18.9°c in the early hours of Friday 10th January.

The deep cold sinking into the NE US over the coming days will fire up the jet stream, and will towards the end of next week kick us out of the current weather rut. Becoming unsettled and potentially notably stormy, big winter storms are what the ski areas need now as we are (with limited exception of some main run terrain at the Lecht) starting from scratch.

In the West the only lift served sliding continues to be the sledging at Glencoe, at the Sledge Park at the Plateau Cafe served by a new magic carpet and being kept in decent shape by snow making.

The Plateau Cafe will be open (providing the Access Chair is open), last orders at 3pm. The Access Chair is open from 9am with the last chair up at 3.45pm and last chair down at 4pm, it is recommended to arrive by 2pm if going sledging to get a decent amount of time up the hill.

Note that Nevis Range is closed until the February half term.

:: Warren Millers SEVENTY FIVE

The 75th Warren Miller snowsports film is on tour through mid February 2025 and gets back on the road again in early January. Next up for our shows is Kendal on Thursday 23rd January.

Through mid January there are an additional five screenings at the Light Cinemas across Northern England.

There are further Scottish screenings in Aberdeen, Boat of Garten and Perth. Get tickets NOW: www.warrenmiller.co.uk .

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:: CairnGorm Funicular Update

Late on Christmas Eve HIE and CML slipped out word that the CairnGorm Funicular will remain out of service until further notice after additional issues have been discovered while contractor Balfour Beatty demobilised from the work on the scarf joints and beam bracing! Contractors will return to site in January to carry out further assessments of the funicular to determine further works.

Thus at present as conditions permit, access to the Top Basin will require use of either the M1 or West Wall Pomas, the two most challenging surface lifts on CairnGorm. Access to them will be dependent on lower level snow or on foot to the M1 Poma. Thus while CairnGorm has the beginner area at the Daylodge level there will be a lack of progression terrain even if other parts of the mountain open up.

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:: England Club Fields

After a spell of very good conditions early in January, all the club fields are back to waiting for snow.

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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:: Mountain Weather

At 8pm in the West at the base of Glencoe at 366m the temperature was +3.8°c with light and variable wind.

The SAIS AWS at the top of the Summit Tow was reporting -1.0°c on Aonach Mor. The Met Office Summit Run AWS at (1130m) remains offline. The Tower 17 AWS on the Gondola has come back to life with a SSW wind at 8 gusting 19mph. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +6.8°c.

In the East the CairnGorm the Met Office Summit AWS (4084ft/1245m) was reporting a temperature of +8.0°c, no wind speed available. Aviemore was at +4.8°c. A temperature of 14°c was recorded at the meteorological station adjacent to the Daylodge Poma on Saturday morning.

The Cairnwell AWS reported +0.3°c (3061ft /934m), with a SSW wind at a mean of 25 gusting 36mph. Other AWS data is consistent with CairnGorm being above an inversion which the Cairnwell summit remains below.

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

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:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

The best brightness on Sunday will be found towards the North and NE of the major ranges and there is considerable doubt about cloud / brightness levels nearer the West Coast, where at least higher terrain could be above any cloud. Above the inversion and any cloud, temperature will be at least +4°c and potentially a few degrees higher, though the inversion conditions will begin to breakdown. Where clouds linger around Munro Level the temperature will be closer to or possibly even slightly below freezing, in these locations the moderate SSW wind will add a significant windchill. Mostly between +2 and +4°c, but potential range from -1 to +7°c on the higher tops.

General pattern of benign conditions with moderate S to SW winds will continue into the first part of next week, but the inversion breaking down and higher tops expected to be around or below freezing, with the wind gradually swinging to the SE or E mid-week. That will change where sees the best of the brightness and could bring some snow flurries/grains into the Southern Cairngorms.

It now looks as if Thursday could well be the last of the current rather benign and non descript days or this current spell of weather, with the potential for stormy conditions moving in from the Atlantic either for or during Friday.

There is potential for a significant storm event to develop late in the week or into the weekend, that needs watching. Chat about February 2014 and 2020 on the weather forums give a glimmer of hope for a trend into unsettled but cool zonal conditions for a period of time.

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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: All webcams online and the first updated images will be from around 8am. Base AWS online. The summit weather station was damaged by nearby lightning and is out of service.

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