Snow report Upper Bavaria, 02/05/2020

Snow condition

After the horrible sight on the weekend and the heavy rain that followed, winter has finally returned. The station at 1100 m has been showing around 15 cm of fresh snow since yesterday morning. The amount of fresh snow increases with altitude. In sheltered locations, I would guess up to a maximum of 30 cm. However, it is quite difficult to make a serious statement as the amount of fresh snow changes almost every meter between 0 cm and approx. 50 cm or even more. The wind was still quite strong in the morning, but then became a little weaker. Unfortunately, the overall snow situation still looks pretty poor for the beginning of February. Places exposed to the wind, ridges and ridges are more or less free of snow and terrain traps still pose a greater danger. Just enough for 2 stars.

Snow quality

We opted for a south-southwest descent and a north-northwest descent in somewhat sheltered terrain below 1700 meters. The snow there was quite good, soft and there was no blowing through onto a hard surface. The amount of fresh snow could have been a bit more. I wouldn't recommend completely open terrain for good snow quality (that was my impression on the ascent).

Up to 1700 m, the precipitation came as sleet again and again today. This was apparently the case again and again during the precipitation phase. Sleet can be found in the fresh snow with almost every quick snowpack check. Some of this lies on a frozen base and is therefore quite slippery. Fortunately, thanks to the wind, the layer of fresh snow in this area was quite manageable. This was generally more the case in exposed terrain. On the south side, the snow became looser and colder with increasing snow depth and the structure was better there. I would be very critical of steep leeward terrain and transitions from little to more. We were quite passive on alpine meadows today. I would agree with LWS 3 above the tree line, but rather a sharper 3. The main danger comes from drifting snow and snow-covered sleet.

Overall impression

Another winter's day, snowfall all day, the wind was fortunately weaker and nobody else was out and about. Two descents, two tracks and also observed chamois in the totally overcrowded touring area, especially on weekends. Once again it was a better day.