Snow report Monte Rosa / Zermatt, 07/11/2021

Snow condition

You can still ski all the way down to the Indren mountain station at 3275m (crossing the rock step southwest of the Gnifetti hut through an obvious, wide gully). For mid-July there is good snow cover above approx. 3800m, the small crevasse zones are still well snow-covered. Only exposed ridges and north faces are blown away and have bare patches. Don't be fooled by first impressions, north faces such as the Lyskamm north face are a beautiful white, but on closer inspection the bare ice flashes through under a thin layer of snow. However, the current snow conditions are still good enough for leisurely ski tours.

Snow quality

Thanks to the quite decent snowfall on Thursday (08.07.), there are good, powdery snow conditions above approx. 3800m. Although the fresh snow has been influenced by the wind and is therefore already settled, it is still nice to ski on. Below approx. 3800m it is still nice to ski, but a bit rougher

With large amounts of fresh snow and the influence of wind, caution is advised even in what is supposed to be summer. At the moment, winter conditions still prevail in the high mountains (> 3800m) or have returned! On the first fair weather day after a major snowfall, a little restraint can do no harm. However, the situation usually improves again relatively quickly with the sunshine. Due to the wind and the relatively cold temperatures, some loose snow has been transported. Other alpine dangers such as the risk of falling into crevasses, the risk of falling ice below seracs etc. must of course also be taken into account.

Overall impression

After the changeable weather of the last few weeks, frequent snowfalls with snowfall limits around 3700-3500m and sometimes even significantly lower, there was hope that there might finally be good steep face conditions in the high western Alps. Then I saw a recent picture of the north face of the Lyskamm, brilliant white, went completely crazy and dashed off to Valsesia. Ascent by cable car significantly shortened, but still strenuous with a heavy backpack up to 4000m and shoveled out a campsite there. The next day we got a good view of the north face of the Lyskamm from the Parrotspitze, as the 30x zoom photos showed, but unfortunately too little snow on bare ice. Too bad, but one day the right moment will come. Nevertheless, we had 3 really nice days in the Monte Rosa area, climbed sharp firn ridges, skied shorter steep faces and still found good powder snow. Only the thunderstorm on Saturday evening should have been avoided and a bit of acclimatization wouldn't have hurt if you spend 2 nights sleeping at 4000m (or rather not sleeping :D).