Well, we've had it all in the Lakes in the past 3 days. Freezing temps, lots of snow, 80mph wind, now a thaw and more snow!
So i took myself up ski touring into the Bowscale Tarn area, which is part of the Skiddaw massif, to do a bit of a recce and see what is happenning with the snow.
And what I found was this!
A full blown cornice collapse and full depth avalanche. There was a lot of debris (you get a sense of the size from the ski pole) and the crown headwall (the bit it broke away from at the top) was about 3ft high, pretty big. It would definately have done someone a mischief if they were in it and as I stood thinking this, a great ripping noise started and the rest of it came down. It didn't get anywhere near me, but any plans to head higher up that slope were binned!
So i turned tail and had a very pleasant, if wet and windy ski back down.
There is a lot of snow on these lee slopes, and this one was low. And with temperatures rising and it all getting wet and heavy, more of this is likely. Tomorrow night is due to bring colder weather again for the weekend, so after a good freeze all will be awesome.
As for us? Well we're out on saturday with some clients from down south for our first winter skills course of the season, fingers crossed they get good conditions.
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