Snow report Ticino, 03/04/2017

Snow condition

Until the very end, it wasn't clear whether it made sense to take the route through the Gotthard massif. But the last check this morning was positive and the ride out of the tunnel created a jackpot feeling in my head....but only for about 5 minutes. Then long faces at the parking lot in Airolo. Area closed due to high avalanche risk. Nevous freeriders are standing in front of the cars, typing furiously on their cell phones and dragging on their cigarettes. 95% decide on Andermatt. We have our touring equipment with us and head into the trees in Val Bedretto. There's more than enough snow there. There must have been 50cm in the last 24 hours... maybe more.

Snow quality

Still nice and fluffy, soft and cold at around 1500m in the morning. Around noon, still nice and fluffy, soft, cold and deep at around 2000m. However, the wind was raging above the tree line. But that was the end for us anyway and we were back at the car by 2pm and it was already quite warm. The snow was correspondingly sticky and heavy. The weather forecast was actually bad, but my sunburn on my face didn't notice.

Junge junge....in Airolo they already had their reasons for not opening the area. According to the SLF, it was a 4 in all exposures and rightly so. A lot of snow came down in a short time with a lot of wind, resulting in large accumulations of drift snow. We stayed on moderate slopes in the forest.

Overall impression

I'd say we made the best of the situation. Could have been a nice day in Airolo, but it was a relaxed day in Val Bedretto. I'd be interested to know if Andermatt would have been worth it. I'd rather not check whether Airolo was still open at lunchtime