Snow report Lötschental, 03/01/2017

Snow condition

The recent snowfalls have been abundant here. Now we can speak of a base from 2000 m above sea level, which largely excludes ground contact. There is not much in the valleys at around 1400 meters above sea level, as some of the precipitation fell here in the form of rain. I estimate the amount of fresh snow above 2400 m above sea level over the last three days to be around 60 cm and should have fallen without any major wind influences.

Snow quality

From 2400 m above sea level, the large layer of fresh snow is still dry and dusty. Below that, you can feel the influence of the heat and it becomes more difficult not to get your ski tips under the heavy snow. I would avoid skiing down into the valley, as there have already been spontaneous medium-sized wet snow slides and the extremely wet snow on the south-facing slopes is no longer great to ski on.

Due to the poor visibility alone, it was impossible to really think about off-piste skiing or touring on Thursday. In addition, the amount of fresh snow alone is critical enough. The current events in the area should be a warning and continue to lead to restraint, with smaller releases with approx. 40 cm of crack height above 2400 m, wet snow slides below.

Overall impression

Good base that hopefully won't get too much work from the hairdryer.