Snow report Hochkönig, 03/16/2021

Snow condition

After spending most of this season in more southerly climes, the poor base reminded me that it was more than poor for the north this year. Even though a lot of fresh snow has now fallen, you have to watch out for many hidden dangers, especially in the forest. We started today at just under 1300m, so there was basically enough snow on the closed pistes. Off-piste, however, it was very poor in places. At the bottom about 30cm+, further up partly 50cm+ of fresh snow. But rather variable due to the wind.

Snow quality

It was a bit mixed. Brittle drift snow or blown off patches where the wind was blowing. Good fresh snow in areas protected from the wind, but not very fluffy. You need a good steepness to ski down, otherwise the fresh snow is almost impossible to ski. In the lower flat and wind-exposed part, we had to push back.

We drove up on a closed slope, briefly to the tree line and short forest aisles. Above the tree line there was a lot of wind with corresponding danger signs. We didn't see anything below.

Overall impression

Hard work when tracking, but got some good turns in return. Good visibility at the end too. The 5* is not possible because the scope is very limited. Above the tree line there is currently nothing to be gained, too low means too heavy snow and where it fits it is almost too much and you have to look for steeper terrain.