Snow report Dolomites, 03/12/2014

Snow condition

Baam, all the snow you miss in the northern Alps seems to be here. It's hard to say how much snow there really is here. In addition to the roads, there are still walls of snow over 3m high at temperatures of around 15°C in the valley (approx. 1400m above sea level). There is also a good 2m of settled (!!) snow on huts in the valley. There is hardly a stone to be found on the mountain. According to the locals, gullies are skiable this year that have never been skiable before.

Snow quality

In all exposures (with the exception of all-day shady, north-facing gullies and hollows) and altitudes, the warmth and sunlight are really affecting the snow. In addition, compared to the Northern Alps, there was a lot of wind here. This results in a selection of all types of snow you can imagine (except cold powder...): from dry wind-pressed to firn to unrideable slush. Unfortunately, the bad types predominate and there are some special treats: large, melted and then re-frozen windslopes, for example.

According to the LLB, 1 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. We were also able to observe some wet snow avalanches ourselves. The Passo Rolle was closed the whole time from 11:00. At the end it was already closed from 09:00 due to blasting and rising temperatures, and rightly so. Some wet snow slides (some ground avalanches) snapped steel avalanche barriers like straws. And trees were also snapped by small ground avalanches due to the enormous masses of snow (see photos). From midday onwards, you can no longer lose anything in the catchment area of slopes from east to south to west!

Overall impression

Due to the great scenery, the masses of snow and the associated possibilities to ski gullies still a 3, although the mostly prevailing snow quality would justify a 2.