Snow report Arlberg, 12/13/2020

Snow condition

Okay for early December. Skiing is possible in the Arlberg region. It was probably enough for the runs all the way down today (we didn't go to Langen or St. Anton). 40cm of base from 1500m upwards. That's enough to make nice tours. The choice of lines is very limited, we didn't have any rock contact, but we also stayed on the meadows.

Snow quality

We got 20cm of fresh snow overnight. A little more from 2300m upwards, which is easy and very good to ski. There was hardly any wind and the snow is brutally good, especially on shady slopes, and it's scratching at the 4 stars

Watch out, today was another one of those days. 3s from 2200m and it was hot. Pretty much exactly at 2200m, we had 4 pitches in the group of three over a distance of 200m. The last one was massive. I was the last to follow and it settled twice more, and when we turned around we noticed a crack across the slope (+-20 degrees). The danger spots are well hidden under the fresh snow and we turned back because even the approach via a blue slope (not groomed) was too tricky for us. And I've never experienced that before. The decision was made unanimously by the team of 4, and the pitches were in the east to north sectors.

Overall impression

Great day despite everything. The last 600 m back down into the valley were great. Unfortunately, we had to skip the most beautiful section. That hurt, but it was probably smarter that way.

Be careful in the next few days.