The long awaited settled spell of weather has arrived and with it unseasonally high temperatures. In Lanjaron we have reached 20 degrees C in the last few days. This has allowed rapid consolidation of the snowpack above 2000m. Large areas of ice exist especially on ridges. On north and east facing slopes windslab has been reported. Varying mountain conditions requiring extreme care.
The Cascada de los Militares ice fall adjacent to the Albergue at the Hoya de la Mora, above the Sierra Nevada, is rapidly turning into water and the ice is very inconsistent. In the Coral del Veleta, windslab avalanche debris has been seen on the approach to the Canuto couloir.
The high temperatures look set to continue all week until Saturday when there will be a sharp fall. Freezing levels above 3000m all week, will further erode the snowpack, but assist in stabilisation. Don’t forget your crampons! Check out the mountain weather.
We have a group on Mulhacen at the moment and we shall update this post with conditions on the mountain shortly.
windslab avalanche dangers on Veleta
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http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/encyclopedia/wind_slab.htm