Snow report North chain, 12/31/2019

Snow condition

On the south side, you can get down relatively well on forest paths up to 1000m. The large mountain pine fields are not yet covered in snow and the wind has worked well above. As a result, the open slopes and cirques on the north side don't look so great, but with a bit of intuition you can also find some runs for which the snow conditions are very good. For example, north-east-facing, wind-protected gullies are well filled.

Snow quality

The snow quality is currently very dependent on exposure and altitude, and there is still really good, settled powder snow in wind-protected, north-east-facing gullies. In north-facing hollows, the snow is also still powdery. Some of the north-west side is a little wind-pressed. The data on the north side is in the altitude range of 2300 - 1900 m. On the south side, the snow is rather wet even at high altitudes. The south-facing ascent felt more like a spring tour. It is better on the southeast side and generally on the east side, where you can still find some moist powder snow. Below approx. 1700m, the snow is also much heavier on the south-east side.

According to the LWD, you should watch out for drift snow above 2400m. We didn't go above 2300m today. Below 2300m, the drifting snow has already settled well on the north side due to the warm temperatures, and from sunny terrain, wet loose snow slides were visible, which started small and then picked up a lot of mass in their avalanche path. You shouldn't leave it too late on the south side and you should also watch out for sliding snow avalanches.

Overall impression

And Ullr said: "On the fourth day of good weather, you should seek out wind-protected, north-east-facing gullies". And so the search began for a worthwhile tour destination for today to end the year with a beautiful line. As the best snow quality is useless if it's already all gone, we finally chose the big, lonely Karwendel today.
And we were not disappointed: we skied 2 beautiful, relatively steep gullies in great snow conditions and were completely on our own. A great way to end the 2019 touring year :)