Judging optimum climbing conditions in Scotland is a tricky business (although a good Instructor or Guide can help). To give you a bit of a head start here are my top tips for Scottish Winter Tactics:
#1: Know you stuff..
Scottish winter climbing can be a frustrating game due to the sometimes fickle nature of the weather in the UK. But why is it that some people seem to climb all the classic lines anyway? Inevitably, they are either extremely lucky or more likely they have put some time in to planning their trips. I suppose this is fairly obvious, however where do we find the information?
The aim here is to explain how best to go about planning your trip to get the most from the prevailing conditions.
#2 Be Flexible (or get an Instructor/Guide who is)
Due to the highly variable nature of the Scottish winter climate the best thing to do is be flexible: go where it’s good! It’s really easy to select routes or areas that are on your tick list rather than what’s good at the time. As such if you can be flexible with your destination and your choice of routes then you are more likely to be successful. This also goes for the style of your chosen routes i.e. if you have aspirations to climb ice, mixed, buttress or turf dependant routes then you are widening your options massively. The next thing to do is to match the prevailing conditions to a suitable objective….
#3 Find out about conditions
Information on Scottish winter climbing conditions is much more readily available now than even five years ago. In the past it was a case of phoning friends or just hearing news on the ‘grapevine’. Now with the use of the Internet there is a mass of information through a variety of forums, conditions servers etc.
The information given on these sites is variable and sometimes misleading. For example, limited snow depth isn’t ideal for climbing gullies however; this is great for technical mixed routes. Any information given is likely to be very specific. Unfortunately, these sites often get vast amounts of ‘hits’ therefore you can guarantee that if you have just read a post saying Orion Direct is in excellent condition so have 200 other people! The ideal situation is to combine these conditions reports with weather forecasting to identify other areas or routes that might be in condition. Often other routes at a similar height and aspect will be experiencing similar conditions.
Local information from Instructors, Mountain Guides and Climbers is always really useful. Many often have there own conditions reports throughout the season (see references at the end of this article).
#4 Weather Forecasting
Getting a good quality weather forecast is useful for your day out but also very useful at the planning stage. If you monitor the weather prior to your trip you will start to build up an idea of how the prevailing conditions are created. With practise this will allow you to build a good idea of what’s “in nic” and what’s not. Good forecasts are difficult to come by, currently the best available are those produced by the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) http://www.mwis.org.uk/ and the Met Office. Regardless of the forecast you choose you need to look at the essential information:
#5 Check the Freezing Level
Generally, to find good conditions then you need to be above the freezing level. However, it is worth checking the forecast carefully as a low freezing level combined with an overnight hard frost may mean that good conditions are present down to sea level! If the freezing level is high then go high; it might be generally mild but going high on Ben Nevis or in Coire an Lochain in the Cairngorms might mean that you salvage the day.
In addition monitoring the freezing level over a period of time might indicate any freeze-thaw cycles that produce good ice.
#6 Check the Wind Direction
The wind direction is sometimes over looked but can give you some good information. Firstly, wind will bring with it characteristics of its source i.e. northerly winds will be dry and cold; south westerlies will be mild and wet. Cold northerly winds might give good conditions for technical mixed climbing by creating hoar frost and rime with very little or no snow. Also northwesterly winds might bring snow to the west coast, which will bring good conditions on Ben Nevis.
In addition the wind direction will also give you an indication of where snow is likely to accumulate creating higher avalanche risk. Remember this could be on the descent as well as near to your intended route, check the Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) http://www.sais.gov.uk/
#7 Check the Synoptic Charts
Synoptic charts are potentially really useful if you are keen! Firstly, they will give an accurate idea of wind direction (see above). They will also give a good indication of the speed that fronts are forecast to come through. If a mild front is coming in from the west then going east might salvage the day for example. Good quality synoptic charts can be obtained from http://www.wetterzentrale.de/ this german website has loads of information, for synoptic charts click on ‘bobenkarten’ or follow the link http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/fsfaxbra.html
#8 Check the Precipitation
Following the precipitation over the preceding days will give you a good idea of where snow is accumulating, combined with the wind direction. There might be really good climbing conditions, however, the last thing that you want to do is spend most of the day wading through deep snow!
Heavy rain at all levels can be disastrous if your route relies on frozen turf. However, followed by a brief freeze, it might produce good ice conditions.
#9 Finally Have a Plan..
1 Be flexible and have a have plans A,B and C!
2 Be prepared to travel and make the most of conditions.
3 Think about the whole day including your approach and descent.
4 Get up early to make the most of your planning.
References
Martin Moran, 1998, Scotland’s Winter Mountains, an excellent book for the Scottish enthuisiast with loads of information on the “infernal conditions”.
Andy Nisbet and Rab Anderson, 1996, Scottish Winter Climbs, Scottish Mountaineering Club, the introduction gives a brief summary of the main areas, reliable times of season, combined with some conditions advice.
Some links:
UKClimbing http://www.ukclimbing.com/
Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) http://www.sais.gov.uk/
Wetterzentrale http://www.wetterzentrale.de/
Mountain Weather Information Service: http://www.mwis.org.uk/
Mountain Forecasts from the Met Office
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