Southern Cairngorms Blog & Mountain Info

Fresh Tracks

2nd March 2018

Gave up on trying to drive anywhere today: The A93 is still closed from Braemar over the pass to the south and the Glen Muick road is also closed. The estate tracks that we often use for access have deep drifts on them….so it was Shank’s pony for me today. Skis or snow shoes? Snow shoes would have been lighter but I went with the skis as they were faster on the way back down. Hard work going uphill though as they often disappeared deep under the snow and I either had to engage reverse gear, try and kick them out or worst case scenario saw me leaning over the front of them and digging down 50cm to find them… So even operating at relatively low altitudes deep drifts are an issue. Higher up the strong winds continue with constant heavy drifting going on. Fragile cornices and wind lips are present, failing instantly under light loads. Looks like similar for tomorrow, maybe a little less snow but the winds will continue to cause redistribution.

Thanks to Balmoral Castle & Estate for the photo below showing the huge drift that has developed at their visitor centre.