Snow report Tannheimer Valley, 01/12/2019

Snow condition

Absolutely sufficient, but the catastrophic amounts mentioned everywhere are definitely not yet in the Tannheimer Tal. At least not below the tree line. In the area around Oberjoch, there's at least 50cm more in the valley higher up.

Overnight there was probably heavy fog, or drizzle, up to at least 1700m. As a result, an approx. 2cm thick, quite stable ice crust has formed on the snow surface and it's quite something! Due to the bottomless deep pow underneath, you sink in up to your shins, above the boot shafts. The above-mentioned crust is then brittle when riding, but it is so stable that it is clearly noticeable, and also very painful when skiing faster. Open shins, or at least bruises, are the result. Maybe even perforated trouser legs. The whole thing is extremely unpleasant.

The Bavarian and Tyrolean 3s are OK for today. We made a snow profile and a CT today at 1,700m, exposure NE, slope steepness, approx. 32°. Snow depth 2m, at the very top approx. 2cm, the limited snow cover, down to approx. 40cm, even, strongly bound snow, without any differences in hardness. Below that, there was more and more accumulating, converted crushed snow near the bottom. The CT revealed a releasable weak layer at approx. 1.20m. However, this only broke out of the shoulder on the 10th blow.

Overall impression

To get out of the habit. Anything other than ski slopes or groomed off-piste runs is really no fun at the moment. Better to wait for fresh snow to cover this ice crust deep enough (very unlikely with the predicted hurricane), or rain to dissolve it again (more likely). The one star is for the beautiful winter landscape and the absolutely appealing snow depth.