The past two days has seen a significant thaw, although a slight frost is forecast for tonight. Because there is so much snow in the forest there is still a surprising amount of skiing to be had, but breaks are appearing and the meltwater is running like a train. Snow is soft, still very deep in places, but slushy where thin. Here is a trail by trail account, based on this evening’s visit:

— Main Trail from Car Park to Hut: first 60m or so is almost bare; broken at Hut.

— Biathlon Range — big snow patches but waterlogged.

— Main Trail from Hut to Classic Start — complete.

— Classic Start training slope — complete.

— Main Trail from Classic Start to Short Cut — hill is mostly bare but most of the south verge is skiable.

— Norman’s Way from Short Cut to Highland Fling — long bare stretch from Short Cut to Telemark Twist; short break just beyond TT; remainder complete.

— Highland Fling — complete apart from short break near Norman’s Way.

— Range Way — broken.

— Deer Cut — summit level is bare for 50m or more.

— Leids Leap — complete, apart from 2 short breaks at snowdrifts, from Deer Cut to summit.

— Haute Route (mobile phone mast to Highland Fling) — complete for now, but several short breaks will appear very soon. Most can be avoided via drifts at the side.

I’m pretty sure that Short Cut is complete. Also, it’s likely that Timberline/Snowgoose will be complete for a long time yet. All the drifts up that way have consolidated pretty well.

Bluebird weather at the Clash today. Lower trails have 30-70cm of very variable spring snow, described by one skier as “meringue” (firm patches, then you break through into the soft part). Off-piste in the forest there is about 90cm. Haute Route consists largely of unfathomed drifts, including one spectacular 4-metre high wall across Leids Leap. Best trails for firm snow were the main trail at the Hut, and that part of the Haute Route from the top of Short Cut northward to the top of the hill. Timberline is 2-3 metres deep and was firm and velvet smooth this morning. The open hill has similar stretches but also large expanses of sastrugi.

Car park was ploughed by around midday, with ample space in front and back zones. The B-road from Lumsden was closed as of this morning. The A941 from Rhynie is open to the Clash car park. It has been ploughed but is single-track in places, with high snowbanks. Meltwater from these will cause sheet ice if there’s a frost. Anecdotal evidence confirms that the A941 was still blocked on the Cabrach side around lunchtime today.

There is still good deep snow on the upper trails. Started out hard and icy (especially in the shade) but quickly softened.

First 150m or so are very broken, but decent snow starts from just after the hut. Good snow from there up Classic start, The trail to shortcut is broken in a couple of places. Shortcut complete. Haute Route to top of Leids leap is complete with deep snow, though there is a bit of a stream at the bottom of the hill. Leids Leap is broken breifly in a couple of places at the top of the hill in the usual place. Hedder Way is complete bar the first 2m uphill of Leids leap. Skied back up Shortcut and headed right on Haute Route. Still deep snow. Then headed up onto timberline which is 20-40m wide and 2-3m deep. Back to the track down SnowGoose. Returned via Highland Fling which is broken in a couple of places.

Still well worth skiing as the broken sections are short and most of the trails still have deep snow.