Snow report North chain, 02/22/2020

Snow condition

The snow conditions on the Nordkette and in the Karwendel are generally still relatively acceptable. It looks good at the very top. Only exposed western slopes and ridges are blown away. Most of the gullies have good snow conditions. Pines are also well snow-covered above approx. 1700m. Further down, the snow conditions are very dependent on the exposure. While some of the south-facing slopes are already snow-covered relatively far up, it is of course even better on shady slopes. In Halltal, you can ski down to Bettelwurfeck on the forest road/toboggan run, the rest has to be carried.

Snow quality

The wind, sun and warm temperatures have already left their mark on the snow quality. In shady exposures, the snow is still powdery. However, it is also very changeable in a small area: windswept sections quickly alternate with better areas. The more exposed western slopes tend to look the worst. We found good conditions in our west-facing gully, as it is mostly quite narrow and sheltered from the wind. There was mostly settled powder snow there. The exit at the top (last 50m) was blown off and harder. On our south-facing ascent to the Stempeljoch, the snow was already very wet by midday.

The strong westerly wind has transported a lot of drift snow. Steeper areas that have been blown in should therefore be avoided. Otherwise, the LWD also points out a possible old snow problem (north side around 2300m, west, north and east side between 2600m and 3000m). For detailed information, we recommend reading the current entry in the blog.

Overall impression

Große Stempeljochspitze (2543m) - west gully: 350m, 40 - 50 degrees

A very hidden gully that you can't see unless you happen to walk right underneath it. I discovered the gully 2 weeks ago on an exploration tour in Sonntagskar and have already climbed and descended half of it. After intensive photo study (thanks to a 30x zoom camera :D), I found a continuous line up to the small yoke at the large Stempeljochspitze.

As the gully can't even be found in Reini Scherer's steep face overview, I'd like to briefly describe it here:
The lower part is a narrow gully between high rock faces. From the middle, the gully widens out a little before becoming narrower again at the top and turning into rocky terrain at the exit.
The entrance and exit to the gully is somewhat flatter (approx. 40 degrees), in the middle section the gully is quite steep (up to 50 degrees) and has 3 narrow sections that are not even as wide as a board. 2 narrow sections have to be overcome with a short defensive straight line, one can also be overcome with dry skiing. 2 overview photos with line are included, descent video will follow.

We were able to ski the line in pretty good conditions. On the ascent, the track effort in well-set powder snow was acceptable, on the descent only the top section was blown away and a little harder, but still grippy. There was good powder snow in the steepest sections.