Snow report Axamer Lizum, 12/01/2021

Snow condition

The snow conditions around the Axamer Lizum look pretty good. The shady basins and the off-piste terrain look a lot like winter. Of course, you should bear in mind that there was little to no base left before the last snowfall, especially in the south-facing terrain. The north-facing terrain looks better, of course. Even in forest terrain, there is an acceptable base that can be used for something. In dense forest and very slushy terrain it's still a bit tight, the mountain pines are far from being closed. From a distance, the gullies in the Kalkkögeln still looked rather rocky, both at the bottom and in the exit at the top. At the top, the wind has blown away some of the snow. A few people have climbed the gully towards Ampferstein today, so it seems to be doable (although no one has made it to the top).

Snow quality

Up to the tree line, there is still fine powder snow in shady terrain, at least above 1500m. We didn't ski above the tree line today as the avalanche situation was too dangerous and the snow quality will have suffered greatly due to the strong wind.

Above the tree line, the LWD has issued a considerable avalanche risk. I can definitely confirm this impression, drift snow above the tree line could not be overlooked even from a distance. In the east-facing terrain (approx. 2300m altitude), a snow slab was visible from a distance, and there was probably an avalanche involving people. Due to the precarious situation, we did not venture beyond the tree line. Weak old snow combined with extensive accumulations of drift snow will remain tricky over the next few days. In addition, wet loose snow avalanches came from sunny terrain today due to the warming.

Overall impression

After all, I did 3 laps in the forest, with good powder snow on a soft layer of old snow, the descent was definitely fun. I wouldn't recommend going any further up at the moment, the avalanche situation is unfortunately tense as expected and the better snow can also be found further down. At least where the sun and warm temperatures haven't ruined it.