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Author Topic: new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes  (Read 7142 times)

peakfreak

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new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« on: April 03, 2013 »
Hello everyone. Im a keen hiker and hope to do as many Irish summits as possible this year. A couple of friends and i have planned to spend three days in the mournes this weekend but not looking good with these police warnings about avalanches. I would really appreciate anyone in the mournes area who could reccomend whether to go or leave it to another weekend. We are three reasonably experianced hikers in our late 20's.

hopefully i get to meet some of you on an adventure someday

kind regards

john
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KyleL

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new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2013 »
Hello! Welcome!

You'll find a lot of good advice here, let me give my own stab at it. I've been for a couple of walks recently and camped in donard forest on the weekend.

The high mournes are currently around minus 7 degrees, and will be for at least a few more days - at which point we are expecting a thaw which means LOTS of water, slippy ice, and probably more avalanches. So that's a point worth noting.

With careful planning and good gear though it might be okay, however you would want some local knowledge and experience as navigating could be tricky.

What sort of kit do you have? You'd want a nice warm sleeping bag (probably comfort rated to minus 5 or more), a tent you trust (I think winds are reaching 40mph at the tops), good warm clothes, some source of warm food (no wood on the summits!), good boots (probably with crampons) and walking poles/ice axes.

Three days is a long time. Will you be coming down for supplies?
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twentyclicks

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Re: new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2013 »
Hi John, welcome to the forum. That's a good question.

Basically, the situation is that the weather front that brought the snow and the prevailing winds since have been from the NE /E. The wind scours the slopes it hits and snow gets deposited on the other side (W... which are the slopes the police are particularly warning about). Cornices will also build up on the Western side of ridges so you want to avoid walking on those! As the thaw comes in these snow packs will be very unstable as the sun hits them, or warm air moves in from our usual prevailing direction of the SW. Expansion between layers or melt water moving through the pack can cause the lot to give way. Check online for ways to assess snowpacks and avalanche risks.

You could go up but you would need to be confident analysing the terrain and picking routes. 3 days is a fair amount of time... you may not find 3 days of safe ground to cover. The colder, darker sides of the hills will be generally safer if less pleasant. Ridges, summits and spurs are safer than pots, gulleys or valleys under snowpacks, but will be more exposed and you must stay clear of cornices.

My main problem other than safety is that if a thaw is happening everything will be wet and mushy  ::)  Personally, I'd wait if you have any doubts. Go for a day-hike if you like and pick a careful route, but for 3 days I think that time might be ultimately wasted if the temperature turns.

Keep an eye on official notices, the weather forecast, and reports on here from people who have been up.

Kyle beat me, but I've typed this, so here it is!
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Craig
-----------------------
"Go thou my incense upward from this hearth,
And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame." - Thoreau

peakfreak

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Re: new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #3 on: April 04, 2013 »
Hi guys, thanks so much for your replys. We have decided to leave our mournes adventure for better conditions and settled for some wild camping/trout fishing at binevenagh instead. I'm a bit frustrated as ive been looking forward to this for ages but I'm pretty sure the mournes will still be there in a few weeks time ; )

Thanks guys, ill let you know how we get on

John
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Kayakgirl

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new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #4 on: April 04, 2013 »
Welcome to the forum!
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Stress dissolves when exposed to water..

Wolf_Larson

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Re: new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2013 »
Welcome
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The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences.

Daithi2004

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Re: new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2013 »
Welcome to the forum. Good decision.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2013 by Daithi2004 »
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ChuckMcB

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Re: new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2013 »
Welcome John.
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KyleL

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new user. PEAKFREAK query about mournes
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2013 »
It's annoying to have to change plans but I feel ya - I'm Bustin to get up there again.
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