Snow report Zugspitz Arena, 03/11/2016

Snow condition

An amazing amount of snow in the Gießenbach valley! You could ski down to the parking lot, which is not often the case. Last week there was a lot of snow there (at 1400m an estimated 60cm). Surprisingly, however, we got through to the rocky ground once or twice on the north side at around 2000m. So before last week there was little base there. Otherwise, the north-facing gullies were full of well-placed powder. Other exposures are easy to ski with a little attention to the choice of route. Just 3 stars.

Snow quality

On the north side there was still some really nice powder from 1400m. Would have been really nice to ski in clear conditions. In the other exposures there is a really nasty cover on top. Unfortunately, the snow couldn't radiate through the fog, so that in the afternoon the cover got worse and worse towards the bottom. All in all, quite exhausting to ski. North side 3, overall 2 stars, tendency: The lack of radiation due to the fog at low temperatures yesterday evening probably did not improve the snow quality.

On the sun-exposed slopes, there were already loose snow slides and one or two small snow slides from the last few days. On the north side it was still deep winter and nicely settled, so that even very steep stuff is possible. The proclaimed 2 below 2400 fits well here.

Overall impression

My first CR here was supposed to be about a powder day in glorious weather. But you can't always choose. Without the fog, it could have been a really good day in the steep Karwendel gullies. So we had an alpine adventure with zero visibility from around 1600m - but nothing more. The exciting scramble on firm snow after the ski depot lifts the tour to a (very close) 2