Currently it's minus 4 and snowing in Ambleside. The weather has been pretty good today but the sunshine has stripped a lot of the frosting from the buttresses. We're not getting the depth of snowfall that the east of the country is getting but still enough to make the driving interesting.
There's been a few teams out on the usual areas of Helvellyn and Great End. The old snow is now well consolidated and the turf is nicely frozen. The heavy snow showers should be continuing to improve conditions on some of the classic mixed routes such as Bowfell Buttress and Pisgah Buttress. The low level icefalls of The Trough and Low Water Beck should be coming into condition fairly shortly although they're not there yet!
One team paid a visit to Scafell which was reported to be in good condition. Plenty of snowed up rock and streaks of ice. The Cascades on the Shamrock have had an ascent. However only the higher & north facing buttresses were rimed due to the sunny conditions today. Snow chains were very useful for getting up Wasdale.
It looks like it's going to be a very busy weekend so probably best to take the opportunity to go and explore some new areas rather than the usual suspects!
