Snow report Northeastern Switzerland, 01/05/2015

Snow condition

Start at 1369m: Ultra-compact snow cover there, approx. 10cm on meadow. 1 star. With an anticipatory driving style, no ground contact at all. From approx. 2000m enough snow everywhere except for blown-off ridges. 3 stars. All in all 2 stars. A week ago there was still a lot of snow in the Rhine Valley, now you have to drive a good 800m higher to be able to start...Interesting, however, that at the very end of the Rhine Valley in Bregenz the snow still reaches as far as Lake Constance...There was probably a lot more snow there.

Snow quality

All load-bearing, so far the good. The bad news is that the snow surface is like an ice rink over large areas. Good night with the next snowfall. The descent isn't too bad though, several gullies and trough systems lead to the parking lot, minimal loose snow there, actually quite good to ski. Everywhere else: forget it.

In my opinion, absolutely safe up to about 2000m. Here, the snow cover was completely soaked and then frozen solid. Difficult to assess above 2000m, but I think it was relatively safe where I was. At least no drift snow packs. But I remember last year when I saw photos where the top twenty or thirty centimetres were similarly compact "Harsch", but the avalanche was triggered underneath.

Overall impression

Very nice weather, top visibility, beautiful mountain, not so bad descent: 3 stars.