Snow report Lech Valley, 01/26/2020

Snow condition

Our tour started today at about 1200m (north side). The snow conditions were really bad at the beginning. The situation improved from about 1400m, from here we could find a continuous snow cover. On the ascent we were already getting an idea of the situation and realized that you should choose your line carefully, sharks were lurking around every corner. As we didn't have any crampons with us, we had to cover the last few meters to the summit over an exposed ridge with skis on our backpacks. Unfortunately, it was really bad, the last few metres over the forest path to the parking lot - if you love your equipment, you better carry it!

Snow quality

The snow quality varied depending on the exposure. The summit slope was really no fun (south-east), but as soon as we skied into the northern slopes, we found great conditions with around 15-20cm of settled powder, which was great to ski. At the bottom, the snow was heavier but easy to ski.

After the last snowfall a few days ago, the avalanche danger was low according to the LLB. That's how I would rate it. We were able to see a few slippery snow mouths, but had not observed any anomalies. Considerable cornices have formed in the summit area.

Overall impression

I really enjoyed the tour to the Elmer Mutterkopf, the gullies and descents in the upper section put a big grin on our faces. Unfortunately, there's a lack of snow here in the Lech Valley, so we'll see what the next few days bring.