Snow report Grisons, 02/27/2015

Snow condition

Last week there was a little bit of fresh snow, then last night about 20-25cm at the top. Less towards the bottom. Overall, there is comparatively little snow. However, everything is generally covered in snow and with a little care you can find a good path through stones and bushes. On the south side, it's actually very poor, the further down you go, it's partly just the snowfall from last week, which will probably disappear again quickly. Last week, the south-facing slopes below 1500 were already partly free of snow. 3 stars, as it was good enough today - but I'm afraid that will change quickly.

Snow quality

Initially very nice soft but slightly settled powder. Unfortunately, it was a bit blown out in places, so you had to look quite carefully where you were skiing to stay in the soft snow. Underneath there was a hard layer of old snow on which you could still fall through in the morning until about 2pm. Over the course of the day and with increasing settlement it got better and better and towards the end of the day it was pretty sticky - but great for surfing.

The old snow cover is probably bombproof. Some of the fresh snow has gone down in small slides. Avalanche bulletin said 2-3 for the Laax region, personally I would have estimated it closer to 2.

Overall impression

A great day! The whole day up to Cassons with the old gondola - which will no longer be running from next year (a replacement is planned but who knows when it will arrive and what it will look like then). From whiteout to sunshine, everything was there, as was the snow, from deep and very fine (rather north/west exposed slopes) to heavy cardboard snow. But with surprisingly little going on, it was one of the best days of the season.