Snow report Axamer Lizum, 05/10/2015

Snow condition

The snow conditions are low for seasonal reasons. Below 1900m there is usually too little snow on the east, north and west sides.

Snow quality

The quality depends on the time of day and exposure to the sun. It quickly became very warm. A layer of harsch formed tonight. This was of varying thickness and so the window to find proper firn instead of harsch or slush was very short. By the way, we didn't make it.

In my opinion, the conditions here are not very good. The snow cover is completely soaked through and the snow cover that formed last night was of varying thickness. It was 10 cm thick in some places but only 2 cm in others, giving it little stability. Snow slabs from last week can be seen on almost all the north-facing slopes, some of which were caused by wet loose snow slides from steep terrain. For example, we aborted our planned descent. I also found the different perceptions of safety interesting here, as several people started their tours late and in some cases only entered the off-piste terrain at 10 or 11 o'clock.

Overall impression

A nice end to the season that makes me look forward to next winter, but at the same time shows that it's simply over. PS: Difficult to classify :-)