Checking the snow is in peak condition
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AVALANCHE AWARENESS
Scottish Avalanche Information Service
Terrain – Steep snow slopes on high mountain ground
Start/finish – Cluanie, Glen Shiel
Map – Harvey Superwalker, Kintail; OS Explorer 414
An insight into how the SAIS assesses the daily avalanche risk on the Scottish mountains
While most of us are looking for the safe slopes on a day in the winter mountains, Keith Miller is on a mission to find the most unstable slopes, the ones most at risk of avalanche.
But Keith isn’t heading to the hills with a death wish – he’s there to help the rest of us make the right choices and stay safe.
Avalanches are a regular feature of life on Scotland’s high slopes and have cost the lives of six people in the previous two winters.
That doesn’t mean that, for those with the knowledge and experience at least, the mountains are a no-go area at this time of year.
But the more information you can gather before heading out, the better. That’s why Keith spends day after day hunkered down in snow pits high up in the mountains while the rest of us sit in comfort planning our weekend adventure and logging on to the SAIS website (among others) to check what conditions are like out there.
When I met up with Keith in Glen Shiel as part of the WinterFest walking festival, he showed a group of us exactly what he does to get that information and put it in the public domain on a daily basis during the winter months.
It may seem like a dream job to be out on the hills every day but this is no walk in the park. Keith is continually checking weather conditions and forecasts and assessing the state of the snow before he even gets his boots on.
Then, whatever the weather, he has to trek high up into the mountains and take detailed notes about the various layers of snow, the types of crystals, the depth of each layer, the wetness of the snow... the list goes on. Try doing that with your big winter mitts on!
That’s exactly what we had to do; we were going to be avalanche forecasters for the day.
Starting on the walk in, we’re already looking at conditions. The temperature, wind direction, speed and whether it’s snowing (or raining) at the time add to the picture of what’s happening to the snow.
Once we reach the first major snow slope, Keith quickly digs a small pit with the adze of his ice-axe. What he’s checking is the different layers of snow and, perhaps more importantly, the bond between them.
There are many different types of snow crystal, and they alter as the temperature, weather and conditions change.
He shows us some of them under a hand microscope. They look beautiful, small pebble-like shapes melting under our breath. Keith, who works as a freelance forecaster for the Scottish Avalanche Information Service, records these “small rounds” in his waterproof notebook, along with details of each individual layer of snow.
We all dig our own pit and discover there’s a crisp surface layer with a very soft layer of fresh snow beneath, then below that a multitude of layers of solid snow, well bonded together. The weakness is easily found – with little effort, a block of snow gives way in the soft layer of freshly deposited snow.
The most common form of avalanche in Scotland is windslab, where snow is either deposited on a lee slope or where lying snow is picked up by the wind and then deposited elsewhere.
Until this snow has gone through a series of freeze-thaw cycles, it remains potentially unstable and prone to avalanche, like the soft layer we found.
Keith has to take a number of factors into account when putting together his daily forecasts, which are based not only on current snow conditions but also on predictions of what the weather will do.
But that doesn’t mean he’s telling people where they can and can’t go in the mountains.
“There aren’t many mountains in Scotland that you can’t plot a safe route up whatever the avalanche conditions,” Keith explains, “but you have to be willing to be flexible in winter.”
That flexibility includes having alternative route options as well as keeping an open mind to turning back if that’s the best choice to make.
In winter, you can start assessing these conditions three or four days before you are planning your trip to the mountains. Check the weather forecasts, the conditions in that area and, of course, the avalanche forecast.
That way, you’ll be as prepared as possible to make the right choice on a winter day in the mountains. And all Keith’s hard work (and cold hands) won’t have gone to waste!
AVALANCHE FACTS
90 per cent of all avalanches involving human subjects are triggered by their victims
Anybody buried by an avalanche has around only eight minutes to be found
90 per cent of avalanches happen during snowstorms
Many avalanches are cornice triggered; take care to give them a wide berth
Convex slopes are more prone to avalanche than uniform or concave slopes
Direct descent/ascent is safer than traversing
Climbers and walkers should consider the use of avalanche transceivers/receivers, shovels and probes
For more detailed information, visit www.sais.org.uk
GET THE KNOWLEDGE
Scottish Avalanche Information Service
Daily avalanche forecasts from mid-December to April, plus loads of information on avoiding and dealing with avalanches. Avalanche forecasts cover five areas – Creag Meagaidh, Glencoe, Lochaber, Northern Cairngorms, Southern Cairngorms.
Mountain Weather Information Service
Detailed weather forecasts specifically for UK mountain regions, updated daily all year round, plus synoptic charts.
Met Office
Provides detailed weather forecasts including its own mountain area forecasts.
Weather Online
See actual readings from weather stations across the country, including high level ones such as that on top of Cairn Gorm.
WINTERFEST
The Avalanche Awareness walk was organised by Natural High Guiding, based in Tomich on the edge of Glen Affric, in partnership with the Scottish Avalanche Information Service. Anatom, an Edinburgh-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment, provided shovels, probes and transceivers used on the day. The WinterFest is organised in partnership with Tiso Outdoor Experience Inverness, Aird Motors, Paramo Directional Clothing and Anatom. Visit www.naturalhighguiding.co.uk for more details of future events and services.
