Snow report Lech Valley, 01/30/2021

Snow condition

The rain didn't do as much damage as I had feared. Above around 1600 meters, we were able to ski in the more or less dense forest without any problems. Further down, the terrain is no longer suitable, but it would be worth a try there too. Towards Mutte, the grass peeks out close to the ridge.

Snow quality

Damp to wet snow. Above the tree line, skiing skills are required as the snow also has a light crust due to the wind. Between 17 and 1800m, I had a few really good turns in the forest: knee-deep, fast and easy. But below that it quickly became too wet again. From 1400 meters, even the groomed snow slowed me down a lot, and below that altitude it was raining this afternoon.

There were quite a few sliding snow avalanches on the outward journey, but I didn't see any really big ones or in unusual places. The slopes below the Rotwand, for example, almost always slid when I was there. Wet snow and a lot of wind is certainly bad, but I didn't make any particular observations in this respect along our route over the mountain ridge. At a good 2000 meters we turned around, the visibility got worse and on the southern side of the ridge the grass was sticking out, on the northern side there were cornices.

Overall impression

Low expectations are quickly exceeded, especially by Pillow Lines - better than expected  Hope the warmth leads to a more stable snow cover in the medium term.