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SAIS avalanche service to restart for this weekend after fresh snowfall across Highland mountains


By Mike Merritt

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An SAIS observer battles through atrocious weather in the Cairngorms.
An SAIS observer battles through atrocious weather in the Cairngorms.

Scotland's avalanche service – which ended for the season last month – is unexpectedly resuming again this weekend because of recent snow.

The full Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) ended its winter season's forecasts with 189 snow slides recorded.

But today it announced: "Due to recent significant snowfall in the Scottish Highlands the SAIS will be issuing avalanche forecasts in the Northern Cairngorms, Southern Cairngorms, Lochaber, Torridon, Creag Meagaidh and Glencoe for this weekend."

Despite the winter having the greatest dump of snow in over a decade, fewer people on the hills in the pandemic triggered far fewer potentially deadly avalanches.

In fact, provisional figures show there were 52 fewer than the previous winter.

As a result of the Covid travel restrictions, hill walkers and climbers had been limited to their local area. Ski centres were shut for much of the season and the great hordes of outdoor winter enthusiasts from south of the border and abroad have been missing.

Mark Diggins of the SAIS.
Mark Diggins of the SAIS.

This winter's avalanche total is well down on last year's 241.

Mark Diggins, co-ordinator of the SAIS, said the snow cover to lower levels this winter had been the most extensive since 2009/10.

"We have had a lot of snow but there have been less avalanches," he said. "One of the main reasons is that not many people are on the hills – it has been generally quieter, so that has had an effect. Where people are caught up in avalanches, 90 per cent have been triggered by people.

"There have been some triggered by people this winter but not of any consequence and thankfully no fatalities."


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