Snow report Kleinwalsertal, 03/17/2018

Snow condition

Not an issue at all, the Kleinwalsertal generally gets a lot of snow but I think it's still above average at the moment. See also the picture of the bridge in the valley.

Snow quality

The first 200 vertical meters of the north-facing Derrarinne had about 20cm of powder, which was nice and dusty but a bit tricky to ski. After that, avalanche boulders covered by powder with a layer of harsh snow on top all the way to the bottom of the valley, which was no fun. 20 cm of powder on the Grünhorn at the very top in somewhat more north-facing terrain, but less difficult. On the east-facing slopes the snow was wet, which was easy to ski with momentum and technique but also not a great pleasure. From the tree line onwards, the snow was very wet and falls due to sudden sinking or collapsing were difficult to avoid. I think it was difficult to find really good snow in the region today, the time window for firn was quite small as a lot of it got wet quickly.

In a small south-east-facing swampy slope, I triggered a surface slide about 10 cm high and 2 meters wide, but quickly came to a halt again. In the Derrarinne there was drift snow at the top, but it was not easy to disturb with a profile and there was no break propagation - we thought it was justifiable, as did some before and after us.

Overall impression

Dream weather until 1 pm, beautiful tour and few people. A beautiful tour despite the less than ideal snow :-)