Snow report Bregenzerwald, 02/16/2019

Snow condition

On the shady side, the snow conditions between 1000-2000m are still excellent. On the south side, the snow cover is thinning noticeably below 1000m. Above the tree line, many ridges are already clear. Here you can clearly see that the snow has often fallen with a lot of wind.

Snow quality

In the morning, a stable layer on the south side. North (and where there is no sun) powdery. East and west side broken slush. The layer softens very quickly. Below 1400 m it was already soft on south-southeast slopes from about 09:30 (about 3-5 cm sinking depth). We skied down a southwest-facing slope at around 11:30, which was fine and slushy in the upper part but already too deep at the bottom. Further down it was boggy. The first 400 meters were great.

Avalanches are clearly subject to the diurnal cycle. There are occasional slides down steep slopes regardless of exposure. Open sliding snow cracks are easy to find. Up early, down early ...

Overall impression

Beautiful slushy snow today. Was skeptical because of the warming. In the end, the decision for the south side was ok. Due to the crowds heading towards Montafon and Arlberg today, a tour nearby was the order of the day. With the stable high in the next few days, the firn runs will get better and longer.