Snow conditions lakes?

[kcr]

Hello,

not quite sure where the right place for this is...
Just wondering whether people could comment on the current conditions in the lakes with regards to snow, in particular whether they know of any specific patches/areas of consolidated snow which might be problematic to cross.
I believe there is a consolidated patch above the exit of Swirral Edge which may be hard to negotiate. What is it like between the Scafells? Any other places people know about?

Thanks.

[Sam Harrison]

I haven't got any first hand experience, but I should imagine any snow up there will be very soft and therefore shouldn't cause difficulties to cross. I was up in Scotland at the weekend and even up at 1000m+ everything was soft enough to run on. That being said I think I'd still want to take an axe if I was going up Scafell Pike, just in case. Depends when you're going as well; if a re-freeze happens then stuff could get icy and cause problems.

[djglover]

Was on high st on Saturday and just a bit of drifting round the wall left. Was running in shorts and tshirt

[Hank]

Was out on Sunday doing JNC route from Dunmail to Styhead and there's very little snow about. All avoidable going up the rakes on to Bowfell and virtually nothing between Bowfell and Great End. There were a few sizeable patches on the very top section of the descent from Great End to Styhead, but very soft. Scafells looked to have little on them, though I suspect Lords Rake and West Wall Traverse might still be pretty sketchy. Mild here yesterday and again today.

In summary: bugger all really.

[helix]

A group of us did BG leg 2 recce on Saturday. There's still patchy snow lying and cornices but we had no problems, we were all carrying micro-spikes or similar but no-one opted to don them. Both Swirrel and Striding Edge looked ok and there were plenty of people on them. There were areas of deeper snow knocking about but you could stay clear of them easily.

[kcr]

Excellent, confirms what I was hoping for. Thanks for all the reports.