Snow report Andermatt / Gotthard, 04/12/2014

Snow condition

The southern slopes are completely snow-free up to well over 2,000 m - bike trails would be much better here. On the north side, it goes down to about 1,500 m and then it's over. The other exposures also go up quickly. Up to Tschamut (1,600 m) is just about possible! Sensible touring is still possible above 2,000 m if the exposures are well utilized. But the snow cover is no longer thick.

Snow quality

Basically: typical late spring conditions. A "small" front passed through during the night, which created a snow-covered landscape above 2,000 meters. Up to around 2,400 m, the snow was quite good to ski on, below that it quickly became sticky and rotten.

Stage 1 -> 2 (rapid ascent). We were accompanied by a strong westerly wind on the ascent. However, the loads were too small due to the minimal amount of fresh snow. We were able to observe medium to large wet snow avalanches from eastern slopes in particular over the 2 days. One went off at around 19:00 in the evening and one around midday (see photo). The early morning hours still seem to be quite safe, but the sun already has enormous power from 10:00.

Overall impression

Nice tour with a halfway decent descent. Me and Lukas were back at the hut around 13:00 and enjoyed our Weizen while some of us skied down from Piz Cavradi, who found quite nice conditions in the upper area. We were able to watch the snow plumes of the turns from the hut ... And what happened to "Kartoffelstampfer" is another story. Cu next year! Thanks to everyone for a great weekend in Switzerland.