Snow report Central Switzerland, 03/23/2016

Snow condition

The snow conditions are fine. With the exception of steep south-facing slopes, you can still reach the valleys everywhere. The glaciers seem to be well covered in snow, so there are plenty of options. The biggest restriction comes from the heavily blown snow cover in the high mountains. The summit slopes and the altitudes above 3000 m are massively blown away in this area and skiing enjoyment is severely restricted. For summit tours, crampons may be advisable even in moderately steep terrain.

Snow quality

5-10 centimetres of fresh snow only brought an improvement in conditions up to an altitude of around 3000 meters. Above this altitude, the light, dry fresh snow was literally blown away by the wind. The overall snow surface, which was massively affected by the wind, significantly dampened the downhill fun. In the wind-calmed areas, two stars are awarded for the snow quality, otherwise clearly one star. You also have to be lucky for firn in the current rather cold temperatures.

The snow cover makes a fairly favorable impression. Apart from a small base avalanche at 2000 m, no fresh avalanche observations. However, the fresh snow that was blown away must have landed somewhere and the drift snow must be somewhere. But we would have liked to have found it. It's better to ski in drift snow on moderately steep terrain than windswept snow and other debris.

Overall impression

Unfortunately only two stars. An unexpectedly intense day of bad weather forced us to take a day off at the Tierberglihütte, which meant that our touring program was somewhat reduced. Nevertheless, the good snow conditions, the great weather and the fantastic area made the trip worthwhile. If you come here for the downhill fun, you should wait until the current disturbance is over, then the conditions might be better again.