Snow report Kitzbühel Alps, 01/19/2020

Snow condition

We were out and about today in the altitude range from 900 m to 1950 m in the southeast and north exposures. Below 1300 m it was already quite thin on the south-east side. Without the layer of fresh snow of around 20 cm, it would have been more than thin today. At lower altitudes, you can only get down to 900 m on shady forest paths. From a purely sunny point of view, the fun is massively dampened below 1500 m. There is generally very little snow. Streams, fences and other obstacles are still quite open and the terrain is generally still very rough. However, as you can currently reach the valley with a careful choice of route, there are 2 stars.

Snow quality

The fresh snow was easy to ski. On the south-east side, it lay on a hard layer of old snow and you often hit the old snow. On the north side, it was only a little rougher for the first few meters near the crest and then really good, no blow-through and generally the snow was also fluffier on the north side.

You should watch out for drift snow accumulations, especially near the crest when entering steeper terrain. The fresh snow is not well connected to the old snow cover on the shaded side. Some sluff forms in steeper terrain. LWS 2 was quite good today. Due to the very thin snow cover, you should generally ski a little more passively.

Overall impression

The quality/quantity of snow and the weather were better than expected. A fine day today before it's back to the "desert".