Snow report Andermatt / Gotthard, 12/26/2019

Snow condition

So the 350 cm that it is supposed to have is probably only at the very, very deepest point. Otherwise above 2200 m it's more like 1-2 m. This varies greatly due to the influence of the wind and seems to be hard to beat in the Swiss Alps at the moment. Nevertheless, a little more snow at all altitudes would be good for skiing fun. The large amount of fresh snow that was announced was initially reduced to a meagre 15 cm and was then blown in all directions by the wind. What a pity.

Snow quality

Extremely heterogeneous. There was everything from almost blower powder to broken harsch and the worst slabs of ice. It depends very much on the exposure and terrain to find some good powder snow. Tip: it doesn't get any better at the top!

According to the SLF, it was a three-pointer and that was absolutely justified (and I'll leave out the sliding snow problem with the sliding snow avalanche on the Oberalp Pass -> https://www.nzz.ch/panorama/lawine-auf-skipiste-in-andermatt-ur-suche-nach-verschuetteten-laeuft-ld.1530749). Some big drift snow packs, lots of wind and some fresh snow that didn't really bond well with the old snow cover. Nevertheless, everything will be skied...

Overall impression

A good day on the Gemsstock, overshadowed by the large avalanche of sliding snow on the ski slope on the neighboring Oberalpstock. If the snow quality had been a bit more homogeneous (in the direction of powder, of course), there would have been a fourth star. Now it could be quite good again on Saturday before we have to wait again for a long time.