Snow report East Tyrol-North Carinthia, 11/30/2019

Snow condition

Very good snow conditions. Start possible at 1200 m on closed snow (EIS) cover. On some south-facing slopes, not so much because of the sun, probably more due to enormous sliding snow avalanches. 1800m: one stick of deep snow cover (see photo). Many fallen trees in the forest. Difficult to get through

Snow quality

Between 1200 and 1800 meters of abominable ice. Not entirely safe in steep places and simply horrible. From 1800m upwards, a few cm of powder which then amounts to approx. 20 cm from 1900m. Often blown over in places, but in some areas it fell quite homogeneously and fluffily. We were 80 percent north-facing. On the south side it's surfy and the drift snow powder is quite heavy. There is dusty powder in small hollows. It's enough for jetting around. But mega flow is also something else. The quality is too inhomogeneous and the drift snow is too penetrating.

Above the tree line there was warning level 2 today and I would say it was a tense two days. The main problems were the numerous sliding snow avalanches in all exposures during the ascent, as well as the influence of the wind on the approx. 20 cm of fresh snow at higher altitudes. Even though not much seemed to have been transported, some places were deep and brittle. Almost all the ridges were somehow affected by the wind and you didn't really want to stay in hollows here due to the many terrain traps. With the wind from the west during the day, there were certainly new drifts. The previous days the drift snow came from the south to the north according to the cornices and the wind signs.

Overall impression

Hard icy ascent and drift snow on top made us crunch a bit today. Actually, there wasn't much dangerous fresh snow, but the steepness makes the recipe and so we were piano piano on the way despite moderate avalanche conditions. The base here is top. More of this, please. Also of these fantastic views of the Dolomites, Venediger and Großglockner