Snow report Andermatt / Gotthard, 11/19/2014

Snow condition

As expected, there is an above-average amount of snow for the time of year. The persistent southerly accumulation has also created a thick, fairly homogeneous blanket of snow in this area. However, only above approx. 1800, but from this altitude the amount of snow increases rapidly. However, you should still watch out for hidden stones in more exposed places.

Snow quality

Outstanding! The snow surface was not quite so flawlessly perfect, at least visually, as the wind had left its mark. Surprisingly, however, this hardly affected the quality. You can surf completely carefree on a consistently soft, deep carpet.

Moderate, on balance the main danger from older and newer drift snow accumulations in northern exposures. As we skied practically all of these exposures, we got a very stable impression of the thick layers. No wonder, as there are hardly any weak layers within the snowpack. The exceptionally thick and homogeneous snow cover has settled and solidified well. The more unpredictable sliding snowslides, which can be observed above all on sunny slopes, are rather eerie. In some places, the entire snow cover has slid off the still too warm ground. As the weather warms up at the weekend, this danger must be taken into account.

Overall impression

Fantastic! Of course, the chosen route with its 2200m ascent and 2700m descent was not entirely innocent of the excellent overall impression. But the conditions had to be just as perfect, and they were! In all respects, this was an almost unreal season opening.