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jas


Posts: 40
Joined: Dec 2005
Last Visited: 21:23
30th Dec 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 19.52hrs on Tue 9 Feb 16
hi, anyone been up to Nevis this week or planning too, if so hows the front of the hill looking snow wise? the webcam pics dont really show anything that usefull. I see the backs look full from a few pics ive seen.

Thanks jason

tim1mw


Posts: 700
Joined: Nov 2006
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 22.02hrs on Tue 9 Feb 16
Hi Jas, I drove from Braemar to Glen Nevis this evening and I'm planning to head up the gondola tomorrow. I'll be heading off to the Glencoe hobbit holes at the end of the day, so i'll probably post a report fairly late, once i'm showered and fed.

tim1mw


Posts: 700
Joined: Nov 2006
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 19.47hrs on Wed 10 Feb 16
Decent day at Nevis today. The snow from the base of the Goose T-Bar upwards is in great shape, the Goose Gully is full width and the unpisted sections (most of it today) were soft and very pleasant to ski. The summit runs were also well covered with nice soft snow.

Lower down, the covering of soft snow was covering older lumpy/icy snow. All of the lower runs have coverage, although there are quite a few rocks about. None of the quad chair runs were pisted, and with the hard/lumpy layer underneath they were difficult to ski early on. Fairway improved after the passage of skiiers and boarders smoothed it out, but it also became more icy. The quad chair runs should be good once the piste basher crew have dealt with them, the majority of the PB action was on the upper runs today.

The weather was a mixed bag, the summit was permanently shrouded in mist, the mist rose and fell during the day, although the lower 2/3 of the quad chair was out of the mist most of the time.

A pair of T40 snow cannons were topping up the Linnhe run during the morning, so this should have good snow cover.

The Warrens red run looked to have good coverage, as did the T-Bar up track (the T-Bar has hangers, so is ready to go), but I didn't see anybody actually ski this run. I was told that a few brave souls did go into the back corries during a brief improvement in the visibility, but I wasn't that brave.

Pictures to follow in the public reports section.

Chris H


Posts: 1620
Joined: Dec 2003
Last Visited: 23:59
13th Mar 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 15.38hrs on Thu 11 Feb 16
A few inches of fresh snow fell this morning so couldn't resist nipping up for a quick run. Some cracking powder on offer and things are filling in nicely. All lifts on the front apart from Warrens are now running, and the guys were working on getting that going as well. Bring on the weekend!







Edited 1 times. Last edit at 15.38hrs Thu 11 Feb 16 by Chris H.

Attachments: 11 Feb.jpg (98kB)  
jas


Posts: 40
Joined: Dec 2005
Last Visited: 21:23
30th Dec 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 15.49hrs on Thu 11 Feb 16
thanks for the info and pics looking good so think that`s the weekend sorted.


muzza


Posts: 57
Joined: Mar 2014
Last Visited: 09:31
12th Sep 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 07.49hrs on Fri 12 Feb 16
Thanks for the recent pictures and reports, planning a Sunday trip to Nevis.

Question is, any chance of Braveheart spinning at the weekend?

Chris H


Posts: 1620
Joined: Dec 2003
Last Visited: 23:59
13th Mar 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 09.03hrs on Fri 12 Feb 16
YouTube weekly update is out and shows how conditions have improved with the new snow this week, well worth a watch: [www.youtube.com]

muzza


Posts: 57
Joined: Mar 2014
Last Visited: 09:31
12th Sep 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 07.46hrs on Mon 15 Feb 16
Slightly frustrating day at Nevis yesterday.

Firstly it was nice that they had a Cash Only ticket window which meant I could get my lift passes in super quick time while everyone else was queueing to pay by card.

Snow was excellent on the summit runs and the Goose bowl, but visibility was next to nothing beyond the first couple of pylons of the Goose T-bar. The bottom of the Goose was a bit thin in places, but perfectly reasonable with a little care.

Conditions at the top of the Quad were also very good, but beyond the new piste basher shed the snow deteriorated a fair bit with loads of stones to navigate.

With queues building and the choice of snow with poor vision or vision with poor snow, we decided to call it a day at lunchtime. This decision was vindicated by the sheer volume of punters queuing for the gondola and ticket office when we got down at 1230. I can only imagine what the queues were like in the afternoon.

After a week of constant sub-zero temperatures, the lack of ability for our resorts to manufacture snow was really shown to the max here. A line of snow cannons on the lower slopes of the Fairway would really have improved things and would probably have kept us on the hill, buying lunch as well. I'm sure the centres would love to afford such a set-up, just a shame the finances don't stack up. Now, if only we had a spare £16m of public money about to be wasted on a shopping centre...

Steve_Pick


Posts: 4
Joined: Feb 2010
Last Visited: 13:39
3rd Mar 2021
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 11.14hrs on Mon 15 Feb 16
We had a great full day at nevis yesterday. Front of hill was open. Never busy, never queued once all day , so knackered today. Spent most of the morning skiing high, the goose is in great nick, lower it is thinner. Visibility made the skiing interesting :-) .As the afternoon progressed the cloudbase lifted, and I had a couple of great runs in clear sunshine on the goose. Worth hanging on for. A little more snow lower down , and nevis will be perfect, but it was still a great day out.

Hustler


Posts: 760
Joined: Oct 2006
Last Visited: 07:52
19th Aug 2019
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 14.43hrs on Mon 15 Feb 16
Can echo some of Steve's comments about the day on the hill. Never too busy higher up but the rolling, bumpier nature of the snow, combined with poor visibility made for a challenging day. Lots of fun to be had but you had to work for it.

I have similar observations to Muzza as well- the Q for the ticket office in the morning was quite frustrating, although the whole ten minutes spent there pales into insignificance when compared to CG mountain. Pity we forgot to bring cash.

The other frustration was not getting into the backs- but that was a conscious decision, based on abilities within the group and not being able to rationalise both the drop and the avie risk when there's zero view! The couple of times that the cloud lifted sufficiently, we were on other parts of the hill. Laps on Warrens were very rewarding; the snow is in fabulous condition there and was getting much less attention.

veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 16.56hrs on Tue 16 Feb 16
I was up at Nevis for the weekend, freeloading in a motorhome in the CP. Skied Friday, brilliant day, snow Goose gully and Warrens both under T-Bar (which was not running), and skiiers left of T-Bar was superb. Headed up to peer over the backs, but given the wind AM, and the fog when I went for a second look PM, I bailed and went down warrens instead. Fair weather only back corries for me!

On Saturday I head off with a mate from the CP to bag the Aonach's, mate bailed at Aonach Mor, I watched some skiiers on Summit Gully before heading onwards to Aonach Beag - quite a bit of wind-slab to avoid on Aonach Beag, but managed a safe route up, Now 44 Munro's left to go! Watched some guys climbing up the side of summit gully, then headed back to the CP. Neigh lifts used, that would be cheating!

On Sunday I was in two minds as vis looked poor, but went up anyway. Vis was pretty terrible from half way up the goose, but oddly enough, better either side of the summit poma. Skiied a mix of Goose Gully and warrens (many many more rocks showing vs Friday). Snow lower part of goose was not great, quite a few rocks exposed, and some ice about, but decent high up. Bailed at mid-day and got my £8 quid rebate after queueing for 30 mins - hoards of folks, generally non-skiiers/boarders queueing for a ticket from lunch.

Needs a good dump of snow before I head up again, maybe Glenshee next weekend if it survives the thaw this week.

Pics: [photos.veletron.com]

Agree re queue they could do with opening earlier - maybe flogging ski passes when they open for winter climbers. They could make it such that the gondola would not accept them until 9am. Like you say though 1000% better organised than CG. A dogs dinner is better organised than CG!

Nigel



Edited 3 times. Last edit at 19.06hrs Tue 16 Feb 16 by veletron.

DonaldM


Posts: 871
Joined: Jan 2009
Last Visited: 20:58
10th Aug 2019
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 10.25hrs on Mon 22 Feb 16
Does anyone have a link or image showing the proposed tows in Coire Dubh etc that have not been built yet?

Chris H


Posts: 1620
Joined: Dec 2003
Last Visited: 23:59
13th Mar 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 18.20hrs on Tue 23 Feb 16
Nice afternoon for a few runs. Much improved cover after the storms and the front of the hill now has a good base in all the right places. Didn't get to look in the back corries but safe to assume they are loaded.


^^ Good cover on Yockies



^^ View across to the top of the quad


^^ Wide open slopes


More pics and report here: [www.winterhighland.info]


Chris H


Posts: 1620
Joined: Dec 2003
Last Visited: 23:59
13th Mar 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 09.23hrs on Wed 24 Feb 16
I was asked how the lower quad runs were as they were a little bare last week, particularly at the loading area. The answer I am pleased to report is that there has been a big improvement here too. A couple of pics from yesterday that were not posted in my report that show the lower half of the quad are attached.





Edited 1 times. Last edit at 09.24hrs Wed 24 Feb 16 by Chris H.

Attachments: Lower quad.jpg (54kB)   Lower quad 2.jpg (67kB)  
muzza


Posts: 57
Joined: Mar 2014
Last Visited: 09:31
12th Sep 2020
Re: Aonach Mor snow winter 2015 - 2016
Date Posted: 20.48hrs on Thu 25 Feb 16
Wow, what a difference a week can make! 11 days after my last rather dissapointing visit to Nevis Range, I've had one of my best days at a Scottish resort.

Weather was bright for most of the morning, clouding over after lunch with 30 mins of snow then clear with high cloud. Wind light from the north.

Snow conditions are excellent, from the summit runs right to the bottom of the Quad or top of the Gondola. These were kept fresh with near constant grooming during the day by 2 piste bashers, including opening up a very drifted Far West run in the afternoon.

The Goose was loaded and a joy to board (or ski) due to the lack of any freeze thaw cycle. The Fairway was fast and thankfully now stone free at the bottom. Despite these near ideal conditions the place was no more than pleasently busy and you were normally straight onto every tow.

I can't comment on the Back Corries as I stayed on the front of the mountain all day.

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