Snow report Saalbach / Fieberbrunn, 03/08/2016

Snow condition

The entire contest face is well filled with the snow of the last few days. All areas of the face are well covered with snow, at least on the surface. Many gullies also offer opportunities for more technical lines. Contests have already been held here with significantly less snow. There is also plenty of snow in the rest of the ski area. Off-piste runs are possible down into the valley, although further down it becomes clear that there is almost no base from the winter.

Snow quality

As already mentioned in the last CR, a good 50 cm of fresh snow has probably fallen over the last week. In the morning, this was still quite unaffected in the central, sheltered forests. Further up, they were strongly influenced by the wind. Wind signs everywhere and wind flags on the ridge. Further down it was already quite warm. In the Comp Face, only a little really good snow towards the afternoon. Everything was already very wind-affected, sometimes with a wind crust. The areas without new or drift snow were very hard, sometimes icy.

According to the LLB level 2, the riders triggered small and medium-sized snowboards throughout the contest. The wind signs already gave a hint of this. You had the feeling that you could often predict the releases. The snowboards often came loose behind the edges of the terrain and then quickly stopped again. In steeper terrain, however, the snow slabs were often much larger. All in all, it was quite tense. Personally, if I had planned a tour, I would not have expected a 2 but a 3.

Overall impression

Nice weather and some good powder turns but also a lot of slides, especially with the forerunners and the first two women skiers. After that, there were fewer slides in the steeper areas, as the skidudes again triggered some slides intentionally. The wind, which persisted throughout the day, also made things worse in the higher areas. With a defensive strategy, we were able to enjoy some good runs at the beginning of the day. Sluff management was the be-all and end-all for the comp due to all the drifting snow!