Snow report Central Switzerland, 11/16/2013

Snow condition

It took some confidence in view of the still not very abundant snow masses. In addition, the strong westerly winds have shifted the snow. But the roughest bumps have already been well smoothed with snow. At the moment, there is no way of avoiding contact with stones. There is a decent base for the coming snowfalls.

Snow quality

What the snow conditions lack, the snow quality makes up for to a large extent. Unexpectedly, we encountered powder on our chosen downhill routes that could almost compete with high winter conditions. On the south side, the snow was able to thaw due to the sun's rays, which led to broken hardpack on these exposures, which softened over the course of the day.

Apart from a few wet snow slides from very steep, rocky southern slopes, no negative observations. There are still hardly any weak layers, as the snow often lies directly on the subsoil. Larger wind-borne loads are already well consolidated.

Overall impression

Given the high winter conditions, we give it an optimistic 3 stars. But for the season opening, we're happy to overlook the odd scratch in the surface!