Share a story of how you have experienced weather and/or climate at this place
I'm an avid munro-bagger and was lucky enough to be given a winter skills course for my birthday. Booking this for December felt like a dead cert for some good snowy conditions to practice my ice-axe and winter navigation skills. Alas no, it was 14C and we had to postpone for a later date. But when? Knowing when the snows will come and how long they will last is so difficult these days. We had a lovely time doing some not so wintery walking but it was nuts how warm it was so close to the winter solstice. Wandering around in the hills without needing a coat, in December? This is a trivial story compared to some of the others but it speaks to the heart of the problem - we have lost the luxury of a stable climate. Yes poor me it was hard to find a date for a leisure activity, but what about farmers, foresters and others providing crucial services and products that we all rely on. How are they meant to plan?
Have you observed the weather, climate, or natural environment at this place changing over time?
The arrival of the winter snow, it's depth and duration is so uncertain now. Even over a short period (the last ten years) the change is stark. I used to take 3 months off over winter from my hillwalking because of the hazards of extreme weather but now I can be up Munros in January with no need to use any of my winter equipment. I bring it (just in case) because the weather will always surprise us, but I regularly find myself stripping off to a tshirt rather than wrapped up in thermals even in the middle of winter. Even in the coldest months, I'm getting more use out of my sunscreen than my crampons.
Have you done anything to prepare for or address climate and weather changes at this place?
I have the luxury of changing the gear that I bring with me so that I can respond to the conditions, but I worry about the natural environment there, how are the highly specialised montane species like the Mountain Hares responding to this paucity and unpredictability of seasonal conditions.
*Originally submitted to the Highland Weather & Climate Story Map Commonplace Platform on 21 March 2023.
