Snowboarding on Cairn Gorm. Photo: Graham Gillies CC-BY-SA.2.0

Cairn Gorm’s ski resort operators today used dynamite to clear snow threatening to avalanche on to its slopes.

Explosives experts went to work this morning on the upper reaches of the mountain, resulting in the suspension of skiing while the charges were detonated. The area most at risk was above the White Lady runs.

The move follows the build up of snow unparalleled in recent years as the Met Office confirmed December and January’s weather represented the coldest winter for 28 years. Average temperature across the whole of the UK for the two months was just 1.5C. Scotland has had the severest winter since 1963, with a mean temperature in January hovering around the zero mark.

CairnGorm Mountain, the company in charge of the ski resort, said a high avalanche risk was present on the east wall of the White Lady. The route is used by many mountaineers to access the climbing routes on Coire an t-Sneachda.

The company also warned that a two-way traffic system was still operating on the road normally used for downhill journeys, the link road still being blocked by snow.

According to the sportscotland Avalanche Information Service, fresh windslab is forming above 950m, with steep slopes, corrie rims and convex fields most at risk. Avalanche risk in the area will be considerable tomorrow on all aspects, meaning natural avalanches are possible and human-triggered slides likely.

Elsewhere, Creag Meagaidh, scene of the fatal fall involving Scout leader Stephen Young, has a high avalanche risk, while Glencoe, which also claimed the life of climbers Chris Walker and Robert Pritchard, has a considerable risk of avalanche, as does Lochaber. Lowest risk is in the southern Cairngorms, where most slopes have a moderate risk, with localised areas of considerable danger.