Snow report St. Moritz / Engadine, 12/17/2018

Snow condition

Start at 2100m, about 5cm fresh snow overnight, -10°C, quite strong wind from N. Today 1 valley further south than yesterday. No people and another 5cm of fresh powder overnight, finest quality. There is about 80cm of snow, all obstacles are quite well snowed in. The only thing you have to watch out for is streams. Free choice of line almost unrestricted and stress-free descent, no stone or ground contact possible.

Snow quality

Up to approx. 2800m super pow, in all expos. Above that a lot of wind influence with blown off areas and wind cover.

We did a CT at 2500m, Expo SSW, on a 34° steep slope that was well blown in (snow depth >1m). The lower 10cm are built-up drizzle snow, on approx. 40cm there is a distinctive weak layer, which could not be triggered. On approx. 80cm there is another weak layer, with a thickness of approx. 5cm. This was triggered by the first blow from the elbow and is presumably the weak layer that is currently relevant for the skier. In today's SLF avalanche report, the old snow hazard pattern has been removed for the area, but I would still advise skiers to choose the right lines for the time being.

Overall impression

And again 4 stars, for the 2nd ski 3,000m of the still young season, for the much better weather than predicted (that's why there are almost only downhill pictures today), for the excellent snow and the sensational snow depth in the area.
Picture 1 then shows an improvised ski boot repair with the PowderGuide all-purpose weapon, supplemented by a well-assorted selection of cable ties, which Uli kindly had with him.