Snow report Northeastern Switzerland, 01/01/2015

Snow condition

First big snowfall in the foothills of the Alps this winter! The amount of fresh snow of over 1m in the Lidernen area cannot hide the fact that there is no base at all. You can cruise carefree in gullies and hollows, but great caution is advised in areas exposed to the wind. The fact that the Lidernen area is a classic karst landscape also plays a role. Sharp limestone and sometimes bottomless crevices lurk treacherously hidden beneath the fresh snow.

Snow quality

The snow quality compensates for the lack of a base. In the summit regions there is windswept hardpack, but below that there is the best hero snow in knee-deep quantities!

The large amounts of snow continue with the warming, which started quite rapidly on January 2nd. We have not made any negative observations. However, it should be borne in mind that the new or drift snow on steep shaded slopes lies on an unstable, built-up, transformed old snow foundation.

Overall impression

I would actually like to award 4 stars, but objectively speaking, the poor snow conditions make such an assessment impossible. Nevertheless, great days in the best snow of the current season so far!