Snow report Salzburger Land North, 04/06/2017

Snow condition

The amount of snow was extremely low due to the advanced season, the warm March and the low starting altitude. I carried the first 600 m and from the transition from the Alpgartensteig to the gully there was snow (approx. 1250 m above sea level). During the last 2 cold days, a stable firn has formed, which has not thawed significantly during the day. The gully was skiable all the way down. Important: The amounts of snow indicated are not representative (only valid for the Alpgartenrinne) and normally there is no more snow for skiing at 1250 in northern exposure.

Snow quality

The snow on my tour was not good. The gully was littered with frozen avalanche debris, an inhomogeneous cover of harsh snow and rocks from the surrounding rock faces. The "descent" was more like slipping and sliding down. The fresh snow of the last 2 days (maybe 1 cm) was also too little to change anything. It was also noticeable that the precipitation of the last 2 days between 1500 and 1650 fell partly as sleet (see photo) and due to the leeward position of the gully, the layer of sleet was up to 2 cm thick in places. I don't know whether this was also the case in other areas with more fresh snow.

The avalanche situation was quite relaxed today. As the snow cover was frozen through, the sleet was on the surface and there was only a little fresh snow (with wind) on the mountain, there were few danger spots to be seen.

Overall impression

Despite the adverse snow conditions, I had a lot of fun today and was glad that I was able to do something despite not having a car. For weekend tour planning, it's important to emphasize the formation of a viable snow cover. As I was out and about alone, there are unfortunately no more meaningful pictures.