Snow report Upper Black Forest, 01/29/2015

Snow condition

Not grandois, but quite good thanks to the recent snowfall. Between 20 and 30 cm are likely to have fallen overnight, probably a little more on the Feldberg. At over 1000 m in the wind-protected forest there is between 50 and 80 cm, locally probably a little more. Sufficient in any case, we rarely had contact with branches etc. It continued to snow in showers all day, but not that much came down. But a lot of wind! Just short of 3 Black Forest stars.

Snow quality

Phew, just under 3 stars here too, because there was excellent dry powder in the areas protected from the wind. Unfortunately, almost all the fresh snow has been blown away where the wind has gone, so you're skiing on old snow... But the snow from the weekend should take care of that.

Phew, quite difficult and locally different to assess. In places where the wind was up to mischief (like certainly on the avalanche slopes of Zastler and Herzogenhorn), large accumulations of drift snow or cornices are likely to have formed. That's easy to say now, of course, because we only heard about the two accidents on the way home. But we already decided against a tour yesterday evening due to the strong winds. In our small ski area, we couldn't see any suspicious noises or releases and it wasn't steep either. According to BZ.de, however, other avalanches were observed by helicopter in the Upper Black Forest. I would be very interested in your impressions if you have already been out and about. I would leave everything steep, especially Zastler, Baldenweger and the like, alone for now.

Overall impression

Best day so far in the Black Forest, unfortunately marred by the tragic accidents on the Feldberg. I'm not surprised, as it shows that even on seemingly harmless mountains there are dangers lurking. Be careful when you're out and about at the weekend!