Snow report Northern Norway, 01/22/2016

Snow condition

Wind, wind, wind. Since last weekend, it has snowed a lot in Trondheim and to the west of it (not counting settling, certainly more than a meter), but it has also blown, so there wasn't much left on our first ski tour to 'Ruten' above the forest today. even the smallest elevations - even on leeward slopes - were blown clear. So the handbrake, which has been used a lot these days, was back in action. In medium and low altitudes, of course, the wind drops, but the quality there is shit (see below). At the moment, skiing down to the sea is possible almost everywhere in these latitudes.

Snow quality

Above the tree line solidified powder snow, good for cruising, underneath a still quite soft but not nice to ride cover. Below 300m there is soft, damp, heavy snow without cover

Level 3, which is quite understandable, even if the snow packs are clearly visible. Where it's still cold, the snow cover hasn't had a chance to relieve tension over the last few days. The photographed crack is allegedly from last Thursday (not known whether self-triggering or with additional load), and it is estimated to be well below 30° at this point. Nothing recent has been observed.

Overall impression

Nice first ski tour. With new touring partners and potentially dicey avalanche conditions, the choice of the flat and obviously quite frequented 'Ruten' was exactly the right one (not so good for snowboarders - sliding routes!). And the weather also played along