Steep gully in the Stubai Valley

Snow condition

The snow conditions are still good, and I would even rate them as above average on the north side. On the south side, of course, it looks much worse. Our tour was completely north/northwest-facing, starting at around 1400m. From this altitude you can easily start on skis. You have to be careful on steeper, exposed slopes. Some of these are still a little rocky and blown away. The stream bed on the approach was still completely closed except for one small section.

Snow quality

The snow quality is of course very dependent on altitude and exposure. The top 70m of the gully (>2950m) were blown away and very hard. After that it got much better and the remaining 300m of the gully was beautiful powder snow, mostly with an unexpected depth. However, there is no sunlight in the gully and it is relatively sheltered from the wind. Below the gully, the snow was still good and powdery on the north and north-east side. However, there was more wind influence there and the snow was therefore more bound than in the gully. On the north-west side, where the sun reaches, a cap has already formed. All in all, we skied a good 1400m of good powder, except for the entrance to the gully and the forest path in the lowest part.

The wind has blown a lot of snow today, so you have to watch out for drift snow. In our opinion, the most critical part (the very steep gully exit) was completely blown away and therefore acceptable for us. In steep terrain, you should take care to avoid the accumulations of drift snow. With the incoming cold front with wind and fresh snow, the avalanche situation will soon become even worse. On the north side, the coming fresh snow will be deposited on a loose old snow surface above at least around 1900m.

Overall impression

Really nice gully in the Stubaital in mostly good conditions! A good crew, no other people out and good weather. Only the sometimes strong wind was a bit annoying. Apart from that, you can't complain about today's tour.