Snow report Alpenostrand, 01/20/2021

Snow condition

It snowed for several days here in north-eastern Upper Styria. Never extremely heavy, never extremely much, but in total over the days it snowed quite a lot. The snow level on the Niederalpl is now around 1m, which is more or less the usual level here in high winter. In the deep valleys there's even more than you'd normally expect.

Snow quality

You could tell that the snow had fallen with a lot of wind. It was so loose that it seemed "groundless", but then it was so packed that it really made skiing difficult. In addition, this sinking to the bottom meant that you were constantly feeling the wood (i.e. mostly the pines). In terms of snow, it wasn't such a "burner" today (in contrast to yesterday on the farm meadows in the upper Mürztal), and below around 1400 the stronger warming was clearly noticeable. Further down in the valleys, the lakes of cold air remained due to the relative lack of wind, and the snow would have remained powdery there all day.

According to the LWD, it's still a high triple. Nevertheless, we decided to head for the Kl. Wildkamm, but deliberately stopped a little below the summit so as not to succumb to the temptation to ski into the steeper rear gullies (actually avalanche tracks, as the name Sohlenlahn suggests). Lots of drift snow, which immediately announces itself with crack formation when you "step on it". Around midday, there were also quite a few "foam rolls" on the steep embankments next to the forest roads due to the warming.

Overall impression

The third star is because of the sun today. Overall, the problem is that the new snow has not yet settled enough, so there is no reason for it and it feels like early December after the first heavy snowfalls. The old snow cover was simply far too thin. And in addition, the accumulating transformation is also generally dampening the mood by providing us with the old snow problem, which is unlikely to disappear here any time soon.
Small details in passing: the Niederalpl ski area is currently only open at weekends. During the ski season, both the Holzbox and Mani's Stube obviously offer take-away service.