Snow report North chain, 12/13/2017

Snow condition

Snow conditions for December are outstanding compared to the last few years. All variants from Hafelekar to Seegrube were skiable. However, the lower section to Hungerburg suffered from the foehn and the descent from the gondola didn't look so rewarding. But still skiable with stone skis.

Snow quality

Approx. 20cm of fresh snow above the Seegrube, more in windy gullies. The fresh snow has almost no wind influence and is very powdery. On ridges blown down before the snowfall, you can get through to a harder layer. The rain crust is noticeable below the Seegrube.

The fresh snow has fallen without wind and the powdery condition means that sluffing is more of a problem. I haven't seen any slab cracks in the south-facing exposures of the Nordkette. It's quite possible that the north-facing slopes are much more dangerous in terms of drift snow. You should also keep an eye on the rain crust, which reaches up to the Seegrube, for future weak layers.

Overall impression

I actually only went to the Nordkette this morning to save time and not anywhere else. A surprisingly good morning with nice lines, great snow and surprisingly few freeriders for Nordkette conditions.