Hochfeiler north face

Snow condition

You can get to the Messner bivouac at 2500m with boots almost all the time. After that, the snow conditions become more consistent and better. On the descent you can still make your way for quite a long time on old snow and avalanche cones, up to about 2000m.

Snow quality

Up to around 3000 m, the snow cover was wet in all exposures. Powder snow was only to be found just below and on the north face. This warmed up very quickly in the first hour after sunrise, which was noticeable on the descent. Departure at 9 o'clock. 8 o'clock would have been better. But still good snow quality for the time of year.

Wet snow avalanches have been coming down from some steep passages since 10 am. They mostly came loose in rocky terrain. Most of them were small to medium-sized. The danger of rockfall on the north face itself was greater. The foot of the wall in the lower right section should be treated with caution. Some suitcase-sized stones came loose far above us in the brittle rock zone and flew past us, so don't climb too far to the right. On the way back, wet chutes come loose from the skier from a gradient of 35 degrees. This makes crossings difficult and you should not stay below steep snow-filled slopes below 3000m from early noon.

Overall impression

Since the CR creation caused problems, my CR is a bit late. The CR refers to Monday, May 9th and since then the Hochfeiler north face should not be in such good conditions due to the warming. We were lucky and were able to climb everything without ice contact. Only on the descent were we able to feel the ice a little on the first 5 turns. The set powder snow held well on it and it was relatively easy to ski despite the steepness and a minimal crust from the middle of the wall. It should be different in hard conditions. Overall, unfortunately few turns in relation to the long approach but still a nice experience.