Snow report Brenner region, 12/28/2023

Snow condition

Somehow you regularly forget that it's still December. But the snow conditions are surprisingly good, even on south-facing slopes. You can easily get down into the valley everywhere without touching stones or grass. There would be enough base for dense forest, but the snow quality here is not good enough.

Snow quality

In search of firn today in the Navistal. Hard and icy track on the ascent, well frozen in places, further down in the forest you can feel the moisture in the snow cover and the warm temperatures. Above 2,000 m well frozen, with the sunlight southern slopes also soften up well in places. I wouldn't describe it as pure firn, but in a sector from 2,400 to 1,800 m there were a surprising number of spring-like turns. Overall, the south-facing side was ok, everything that was north-facing and shady is/remains extremely hard.

The main danger currently comes from sliding snow avalanches. Areas with pockets of sliding snow should therefore be avoided at all costs. There were no drift snow packs or similar, they were destroyed by the warm temperatures and the wind.

Overall impression

We took advantage of the beautiful weather for another sunny ski tour in Navis. If you set off with few expectations, then a 600-metre corridor of firn-like terrain is something to look forward to. A descent about 30 minutes later (11.30 a.m.) would probably have been better, but you should also pay attention to how quickly the snow softens.