Snow report Stubai Valley, 10/14/2020

Snow condition

The snow conditions are definitely acceptable for the time of year. You can already ski down the "piste" to the middle station at the Dresdner Hütte, even if the piste is not yet groomed. People have even skied down to the valley station via the ski trail. The ski trail at the Wilde Grube has been cleared, but the terrain still looks rather poor. Anyone who knows the Stubai from the summer and early winter knows that the off-piste terrain is pretty rocky. Of course, this doesn't stop many people from dropping into anything with a bit of snow on it at the first stoke. Especially in the main variants, every centimeter of snow and every stone was taken. If you are more concerned about your equipment and your health, it is advisable to be a little more cautious and seek out more wind-protected gullies and hollows rather than, for example, the rocky desert below the Rotadl lift. Glaciers are of course also possible, but you should be familiar with the crevasse zones.

Snow quality

Super fluffy, cold powder snow and plenty of it. At the top there was a good 40cm of fresh snow, a little more in places. It was a dream for the descent, of course, but the ascent in the gully was a real mess, and the snow remained powdery due to the cold temperatures, only on the south side was it slightly dampened by the sunlight.

There were a few small loose snow avalanches from rocky terrain, but otherwise no avalanche activity. As there is still very little information from the LWD, we dug a snow profile at the entrance to the gully on the north-west side at around 3000m. There, the unbound fresh snow (approx. 40-50cm) lies on a very thick crust of melted snow, which probably formed during the rainfall at the beginning of October, when the snow line was above 3000m. The old snow cover looked stable as far as we could dig (approx. 2m deep). There was no weak layer between the rain crust and the fresh snow (yet), but the very loose, cold powder snow could be a bad basis for the coming snowfall if it falls with more wind. as long as there is no LWD, it is advisable to keep an eye on the blog, otherwise some stones are hidden very close to the snow surface. You should also watch out for crevasses at the moment.

Overall impression

Gorgeous weather, great snow and a beautiful gully. All in all, a very successful day of touring and the first steeper tour this winter.
Definitely makes you want more, even if you have to bear in mind that it's only mid-October.
Other than that, there's already quite a lot going on in the terrain on the Stubai Glacier, but with skins you're almost on your own.

I've attached a few photos of the snow conditions on various slopes, maybe it will help some of you with your tour planning.