any lakes dwellers about?
is there much snow on the tops?
chances of getting up helvellyn on Friday or Saturday.

http://www.climbers-shop.com/web-cam.aspx

Shows Fairfield and is a good indicator of snow level on Helvellyn.

http://www.lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk/

Gold standard info!

There’s a twitter account for the Lakes fell top assessors.

Tweets by LakesWeather

In short, there’s a fair bit of snow.

That would be a definite no for Helvellyn for the foreseeable then!

That would be a definite no for Helvellyn for the foreseeable then!

You definitely won’t catch me anywhere near those cornices.

A few sources:

[list]
[*]Check the various web cams.[/*]
[*]There are various threads on sites like UKC where they get very excited about a few snow flakes on the tops so there might be a conditions report as well. [/*]
[*]The mountain weather line has daily reports from Helvellyn summit.[/*]
[*]The Lake District Ski Club has a tow on Raise – if there’s a lot of snow that will be running. Check their website.[/*]
[/list]

There was quite a bit on the tops on Saturday but there was a significant thaw on Sunday so some will have gone. I’ve seen pictures of Bowfell on both days and there was about a 50% loss in cover. Further east, i.e. Helvellyn should have more cover.

Climbers will be more concerned about snow/ice on the steeper faces rather than on the ridge, look for reports for Brown Cove, Red Tarn, Nethermost Cove and Dollywaggon as these are the main climbing areas in that area. Strong winds will strip the snow on the tops but a thaw and subsequent freeze will create icy conditions. If you see reports of people ski-touring (very rare) then there’s a lot of snow!

Looking at the fells from across the bay at work in Morecambe all the high peaks are white,but not as much as there was.
Friends that ski in the Lakes have got all excited and are messing around on Raise by Helvellyn.

pretty much a no goer with the bike at present then. 🙁

I think you’d be fine on the lower mountain tops e.g. Nan Bield