Snow report Eastern Alps South, 12/29/2017

Snow condition

There is a solid base, but occasionally with a layer of harsh snow. In the night before today, around 20cm of fresh snow fell under the influence of the wind, and the wind has worked the entire area properly, alternating between heavily blown areas and blown-in, partly blown-over areas.

Snow quality

Due to the low temperatures, the snow is rather fluffy, but the approx. 20 cm of fresh snow lies on a layer of old snow, which has been given a hard crust of melted snow by the wind and the warmer temperatures before Christmas. You can get through this layer quite quickly. Where the snow is less affected by the wind, it is quite nice to ride on.

The situation report issued level 3 today. The amount of new snow was not very large (approx. 20cm), but the snow fell in the last two days with gusty winds. Some areas have blown off heavily, this snow has of course been deposited elsewhere & there are some large, overhanging cornices on the ridges (see photos). I guess it was a rather crisp three-pointer today, excursions into steeper terrain are not advisable without sufficient experience in assessing the local danger situation.

Overall impression

I'd like to give it 2.5 stars ;)
Overall, the situation is of course much better than the last three years, so you're happy and have a more positive view of the situation, but it wasn't really great today. In places it's really fun, in other areas there's not enough snow or it's too dangerous. With good judgment and experience, you can get a lot out of it.