Snow report Berchtesgaden Alps, 12/08/2023

Snow condition

Little snow, but the compact base makes it easy to avoid most sharks in moderate, light terrain. The middle layers are the most favorable. The powder layer isn't really deep anywhere, but there were a few nice turns. You usually can't ride properly at the top and bottom.

Snow quality

In areas protected from the wind and sun, still surprisingly good, cold powder, but also sections with noticeable broken snow under the powder. At the very top of the purely west-facing descent, partly wind-treated, occasional slab powder but also drifting and floating snow. Ultimately, however, everything was easy to ski, I would have expected worse in this location.

The factors of wind influence and drifting snow explicitly mentioned in the situation report were also visible and noticeable at medium altitudes. However, the quantities transported here are still manageable. And at higher altitudes, the amount of snow is often quite small and the terrain is still rough. But where there is more, you should be careful. I didn't notice any gliding snow problems on the route. It was still very cold in the morning, but warmed up considerably from later in the morning.

Overall impression

Incredible sky colors in the morning and the really good snow in places made the short morning tour good after the somewhat bumpy start with binding problems. Just too short. Let's see how far up it rains, but it will probably get worse up to the middle altitudes.