Snow report Montafon, 01/13/2018

Snow condition

Still plenty of snow up to higher altitudes. There will soon be very little in the dense forest to the south. On the south side, the snow line has receded to almost 1400 m. Depending on the exposure, the starting altitudes are now very different. From 1500 m, conditions are generally very good and many tour destinations are feasible. Due to the good snow conditions, many south-facing descents are easily doable and are currently the most fun.

Snow quality

There is about 2-3 cm of fresh snow from 1700 m. In general, the snow cover is very variable. Above 2200 m you will find heavily settled powder in areas protected from the wind - but the areas are very small. In many places it is an unpleasant wind harsh (slab powder). Below approx. 2000 m, there was a slight firn on the south-east side. It was a pleasure to ride here. In the forest it changes depending on the sun ;-)

Thanks to the good radiation during the night, the snow cover was able to solidify well again. Up to approx. 2000 m it is as hard as a rock. Then the transition to slab powder starts and from 2200 m dry avalanches are quite possible. In general, many large sliding snow cracks can be seen up to 2500 m (this was the end of our tour). Mainly in the sunny exposures. From 2200 m, the snow is strongly influenced by the wind. The fresh snow covers wind marks. Ridges are heavily overgrown and access is difficult in places.

Overall impression

Beautiful tour in quite acceptable conditions. Drift snow & gliding snow are the focus. Steeper big lines are also possible with a good choice of line and exposure. A number of slopes > 40° in the touring terrain have been tackled today. Today, in rough conditions and fast turns, the mount for the ski boot on the rear jaw (last photo) of my Dynafit FT came off. I was then able to ski down with the toe piece locked.