Snow report Central Switzerland, 01/14/2018

Snow condition

We were able to set off directly from the Steinstössi parking lot. There was still plenty of old snow in the shady valley, but it was frozen as hard as a pickaxe. However, the south side is already almost green and below Steinstössi there is no more snow at all. Sad. But there is a lot of snow above 2000m. But the heavy rain also caused wet snow avalanches on all the steep slopes.

Snow quality

Frozen as hard as a rock. Not even the south-facing slopes thawed, as a brisk cold wind was blowing. Above the Brisenhaus there is about 3-5 cm of powder snow on a frozen base. Not enough to suppress the rattling. After all, the frozen snow cover is load-bearing everywhere and you don't break through it.

As it has rained up to over 2500m, the snow cover is now completely frozen and there is hardly any risk of avalanches. However, this is likely to change over the course of the next week, when a lot of snow with strong winds will fall on the hard surface.

Overall impression

I went on the ski tour today to get some fresh air and enjoy the beautiful weather. I had no expectations of the snow... And so it was, the descent wasn't great, but not too bad either. The snow cover is load-bearing, it just rattles...
There were relatively few people out and about. Brisen was climbed several times.

Let's hope that the snow situation improves next week. The conditions did not encourage me to capture them photographically. Sorry.

Tour tips in this region can be found in the brand new Outdoorguide Unterwalden, available at www.freerideguide.ch