Snow report Stubai Valley, 04/19/2014

Snow condition

You really can't complain about the amount of snow in the rear Stubai Valley. Of course, at the end of April you shouldn't expect an abundance of snow at lower altitudes and on the south side, but the descent is possible as far as the Mutterbergeralm and there is generally quite a lot of snow on the mountain. However, you have to be careful near the crest, as one or two sharks may be lurking there.

Snow quality

Unfortunately only 2 stars. After 2 quite generous snowfalls during the week, we had expected more at this altitude (3000m+) and on the north side. But the wind contributed its part to a rather moderate quality. There was a rather unpleasant cover on the 20cm of fresh snow. This made driving a rather unrelaxing affair, as you never really dared to fully release the handbrake. The quality was only better in very steep north-facing gullies. On the descent, we also noticed a clear influence of the sun on the east and west exposures (despite again being around 3000mh).

After 2 days with warning level 2, the wind also played its part here. We had a bad feeling on some of the slopes and eventually gave way.

Overall impression

Although we had to make turns, untracked glacier slopes in the sunshine are certainly worth 3 stars. You just have to get up high and time it well, then you can still find attractive slopes and good snow. If we had done the tour a day earlier, it might have been worth 4 stars.