Up them mountains!!!

[VNA]

That article is a bit of a mess.

This one is a wee bit better - http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/m...-helvellyn

But I'm still not sure what it's all about.  I can't help but think it's the English version of our Avalanche Information Service - http://www.sais.gov.uk/

Basically the Avalanche service dudes climb up to the same locations each day, yup they note the weather, note the behaviour of the snow and crucially dig big holes in the snow and check the snow pack.  And they post their results online. 

You gotta be a hardy bastard to do that.  It'll have to be pretty extreme weather to stop those dudes from going out and doing their checks.  Fantastic service though and we are very lucky to have it.

If I'm going out on the hill in winter the two sites I check are;

http://www.mwis.org.uk/home.asp weather forecast

and The Avalanche site - http://www.sais.gov.uk/

I need good conditions on both or I'm generally not interested. 

You gotta remember too that any slope that holds snow is a potential risk.  People tend to think avalanches are big dramatic things, but the reality is a small amount of snow can slip and bury you.  Or of course you can bounce off stuff as you slide downhill.