Snow report St. Moritz / Engadine, 11/21/2014

Snow condition

You need a lot of snow in the high Alps, and there isn't any yet, but it's a very good base that was a lot of fun today, even if not all the lines are skiable yet. I did hit a few rocks, luckily without a serious fall - I got "stuck" on a rock on the first north couloir run in the entrance. The descent to the valley station was no problem.

Snow quality

big differences, strongly wind-pressed on the east side with a tendency to nasty breakthroughs. North/west-facing powder is quite nice to ski. Here rather 3 stars. I didn't ski anything on the south side.

Everything that was rideable was skied. The snow cover made a very stable impression. LLB was known to be a 2.

Overall impression

4 stars because of the perfect weather and the fact that the couloirs were really very good and "fresh" on the opening day of the season - and the avalanche situation matched this. Even the North Face was absolutely great in the afternoon, even if it was only skiable on one line - in the couloir under the pillar. I hadn't expected that on the opening day. However, the rummage to the buttress was close to the limit... PS: The local without equipment in the pictures was not my companion. But equipment is overrated anyway... PPS: Tomorrow certainly won't be very rewarding, it was too warm so that the probability of a top is quite high, especially as you have to look for the untracked terrain. Exception: There are only four tracks in the "Northface" and that doesn't get any sun