St. Moritz / Engadin on 06.12.2021 | brixn

Snow condition

I actually wanted to go a bit further. But after I realized after the first few metres that the sharks were sometimes very well hidden just below the surface, I wasn't so interested. Big difference in the snow cover. Partly blown off, partly over 1 meter.

Snow quality

Depth of sinking between 5-25cm. Mostly powder, partly influenced by wind.

I then dug a small profile: Exposure north, slope approx. 35 degrees, terrain far from the ridge but with ridges. I deliberately dug where I thought there would be a lot of snow. Snow depth approx. 1.3m. At the top about 10 cm of drifting snow, soft. Then a very compact and homogeneous layer up to approx. 45 cm above the ground, without obvious vapor barriers. Underneath is the old snow, there are 2 fine lids inside, angular shapes but not very pronounced, I would have expected more "cups". CT22@45cm, smooth break, see photos. I can well imagine that where there is less snow, the unstable layer is addressed much more easily. In the ascent tw cracks next to the track, especially where there is little snow.

Overall impression

Get some fresh air, but you have to be very careful in the stony terrain.