Snow report Kaunertal, 05/17/2022

Snow condition

No longer good. The lower 200 m of the glacier tongue is covered with bare ice and stones. Crevasses are very sparsely covered. The passage is difficult to find due to the glacier break and with the melting of the glacier bridges it is not getting any easier.

Snow quality

Firn about 500m descent from the Weißseespitze over the Gepatschferner. Swampy underneath. On the ascent over the west ridge in a short sheltered north flank, the snow cover was only crusty on the surface underneath, partly loose, partly bound powder snow. Very strenuous trudging. But I guess that in well-protected north faces or gullies you can still find something similar to powder snow under a small crust of rain. Above 3500m it could even be quite good.

Rockfall early in the morning. Wet snow avalanches. Heavy moisture penetration. I would avoid steep descents at the moment because of wet slides. The snow cover is no longer completely frozen through.

Overall impression

Because of the snow you don't necessarily have to go on tour anymore, but a few hundred meters of firn are still worth the climb. You have to walk quite a long way down towards the reservoir.