Snow report Ammer Mountains, 03/14/2017

Snow condition

After it was still wintry white in the Ammergau mountains in the middle of last week, the subsequent rain and the high temperatures of the last few days have caused the snow cover to shrink considerably. On the south side, some of the slopes are completely snow-free down to 1800. On the north side, there are still remnants of snow as far as the valley, but here too there is only a continuous snow cover above approx. 1500m. As the lower part of the tour was on a completely north-facing forest aisle, fortunately we only had to walk for a few minutes. Where there is still snow, you will find a well-compressed, load-bearing snow cover on which you can ski without touching the ground.

Snow quality

In the afternoon, it was a mixture of slush and firn, whereby the hardpack was generally still good and you could make some very nice turns in the firn. As it was still relatively cold at night, the whole thing must have been a pretty tough affair in the morning. On the south side, it was already completely wet in places.

On the north side, the snow cover consisted of a very well-settled layer of harsh snow, which thawed over the course of the day. Even in the afternoon, the snow cover was still not completely soaked, at least on the north side. The greatest danger came from loose snow slides triggered by the sunlight from the surrounding steep, rocky terrain.

Overall impression

Nice little afternoon tour with a few nice turns in the firn and surprisingly little carrying. Unfortunately, just very little snow, which probably won't get any better with the precipitation forecast for the weekend, as it will probably fall as rain at these altitudes. Perhaps the season in the Ammergau will have to be put to bed soon.