Snow report Ammer Mountains, 11/13/2016

Snow condition

It snowed quite heavily twice in the Ammergau mountains in the middle of last week and on Friday (11.11). Today there is still around 5 cm of snow in the valley and around 30-40 cm at the top of the Branderschrofen. At Rohrkopfhütte (1360 m) the snow cover is around 15-20 cm. I was able to ski down to the car today. There is only a small stream to cross and the snow cover is very thin on the lowest 150 meters of altitude. As meadow forms the majority of the ground, it was possible to ski down with little contact with stones. However, those who take good care of their equipment should perhaps use older touring skis. Above the Rohrkopfhütte, you can make a few nice turns in the powder despite the lack of a base and don't have to worry about hitting rocks. The cable car is still closed for maintenance work. For this reason, the slopes are not groomed and are only tracked by the surprisingly few ski tourers (!) and hikers at the weekend. Only one track is groomed from the Rohrkopfhütte to the mountain station due to personnel transportation.

Snow quality

Below 1000 m above sea level, the snow cover was hard and partly frozen. It was more about sliding down the skis safely. Nevertheless, the snow had not thawed noticeably in the valley by midday today. Above 1000 m above sea level, the snow was powdery and got better as the altitude increased. At the top it was really good in places. However, a large part of the descent was already tracked. Nevertheless, you could still find some nice powder on the edges.

As it was already very sunny above the high fog today, I was able to observe some old wet snow slides on meadow ground on the south side. Apart from that, I couldn't see any danger spots as I was on moderate terrain.

Overall impression

As I was surprised that there were so few ski tourers out and about at the weekend, the CR is actually aimed at people who want to get back on their skis at short notice tomorrow (Tuesday) and don't want to travel that far to do so. With the warming up from Wednesday and the expected rain, the descent into the valley will no longer be possible. Unfortunately, as I was out and about alone, I wasn't able to take any meaningful ski pictures.