In message <
[email protected]>, AndyP <
[email protected]> writes
>"Paul Richardson" <
[email protected]> wrote
>
>> Really have my doubts about that Andy. Of course it depends on all kinds of variables, but with
>> the Ben's notoriously fickle weather, and the dangers of slippery convex snow slopes, I'd be
>> inclined to take winter gear anyway in April, however benign things look from sea level.
>
>Am I underestimating the difference a couple of hundred metres in height makes? Last Easter in Glen
>Nevis it was 30 degrees and wall to wall sunshine for several days in a row. There certainly wasn't
>any snow worth mentioning in the Mamores. (Can't actually remember what Ben Nevis looked like
>across the Glen). Again the year before I think there was just the odd patch of snow in the Mamores
>and I can remember sunbathing on some pretty much whiteness free hills in Glen Shiel with just some
>snow in the North facing corries of the Five Sisters to make things look nice. I think the
>sheltered NE corrie up to Bidean Nam Bian from the lost valley was the only place we saw any
>significant looking snow that year. Perhaps I ought to start taking photos to remind myself of
>these things.
>
>Anyway, the upshot is that for the last two Easters (the only 2 I've been) I've not found any
>serious snow conditions in Scotland all of which asks the question: what should we take as typical
>conditions? Are the last few years just an anomaly or is global warming going to be making it the
>norm? Is the average weather over the past twenty years relevant these days?
I think you should put it down to luck - extreme luck. One cannot tell much in advance what it will
be like in April, especially early April, and full winter conditions are always possible.
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