Snow report Arlberg, 01/01/2019

Snow condition

The Arlberg is not living up to its reputation as a snow hole at the moment. All routes are actually skiable, but the 50-70 cm, with little change with increasing altitude, is just not much. Yesterday there was about 20-30 cm of snow, which was, however, transported by the strong wind. The amount of fresh snow therefore varied greatly depending on the exposure and location. As in Damüls: streams open, pines visible right up to the top, sharks are a serious danger, the pistes were good, but towards the end a few stones and grass came out in some places.

Snow quality

The fresh snow and the drift snow were actually great to ski. As it got quite warm, it was already heavy in the south-facing areas by midday and therefore difficult to ski. And the amount wasn't enough again to prevent the crust/track from breaking through, so the slopes were good until the early afternoon, but then it got quite icy.

Quite critical. Small snow slab triggered by a skier. In the traverse to Juppenspitze probably a self-triggering. Lots of drifting snow, strong winds throughout the day, snow plumes on the ridges. There were also some loose snow slides.

Overall impression

There was still a bit of powder to be found in the area, and with a bit of hiking, some nice lines were still possible. But always be careful, the snow conditions are deceptive. In blown-in areas ok, but also rather dangerous. The sun came out again after 1-2 hours of clouds and it stayed nice until the evening. That was better than expected. With the fresh snow tomorrow, it should be enough for the third star.