Snow report North chain, 01/10/2020

Snow condition

Unfortunately, the snow conditions leave a lot to be desired. Above the Seegrube it still looks relatively good. However, steeper faces such as Brandjochspitze or Rumer Spitze are still very rocky. The mountain pine zones are also far from snowed in. The descent into the valley should probably be done by gondola. Fresh snow is urgently needed.

Snow quality

On the south side, the snow is already quite wet in the afternoon. As there is still no really stable cover, you are skiing in deep slush. It's more reminiscent of spring than early January, and the snow is still better on the east side. There it is settled, rather gritty, powder snow. On the north side too, where the snow hasn't been blown away. Where the wind has worked on the north side, it's very compacted and rather icy.

A sliding snow avalanche has already occurred in the long valley. On the eastern slope, you can also see an older avalanche of sliding snow, where a Pistenbully has been driven over it, otherwise there is a risk of cornice breaks on the ridge and drift snow could also be an issue on the north side.

Overall impression

A nice Friday afternoon tour on the Nordkette. As rewarding descents are probably rather difficult to find there at the moment, we went on the Innsbruck via ferrata. Due to the gritty snow on the north side, however, this is quite a rummage in places. Due to the late hour, we decided to descend the middle gully and not continue. The upper, east-facing part had the best snow and a few nice turns. The further, south-facing part was difficult to ski. You don't really need to look for good conditions on the south side at the moment.