Snow report Arlberg, 01/18/2014

Snow condition

In general, there is still too little snow in the terrain and due to the strong foehn over the last few days, every little ridge or rock has been blown off in all expos above 1800m.

Snow quality

In terms of quality, there really is everything, in sunny locations, a thick layer of harsch or the best spring snow. Above 1800m and sometimes lower, the remaining snow in all expos is wind-pressed and blown into all kinds of formations. At lower altitudes, the sun and the warm weather in general have left their mark. We found quite acceptable powder on the large slope (on the Rüfi) of the classic Mehlsack descent. Surprisingly, there was hardly any wind and the only drawback was the warmth, which made the snow relatively wet for this time of year.

The LLB describes everything quite well. It's very difficult to assess the situation at the moment, as the snow cover can be very different locally and every conceivable transformation is taking place. Today we had up to 4-5 snow-covered harsch layers in just under a meter of snow. On the topmost solid layer, the blown fresh snow of the last few days slides off immediately with little additional load.

Overall impression

The three stars are because we unexpectedly found relatively good powder on the big slope. In general, however, it looks rather sad and still poor in snow for this time of year. With a lot of searching and even more luck, you might still find something nice to ride.