Snow report Salzburger Land North, 01/05/2020

Snow condition

There was about 30 cm to 40 cm of fresh snow and the whole thing was accompanied by a decent wind. We were out and about up to an altitude of approx. 1750 m in the north and north-east exposures. In the classic sheltered backcountry areas the snow conditions are now solid, outside these areas and especially in sunny areas or at an altitude below 1000 m it looks worse. The bottom line is 2 stars.

Snow quality

The desired amount of precipitation has arrived. Unfortunately, the precipitation fell with a strong wind and apparently at higher temperatures. The fresh snow already looked quite compact and the sinking depths were manageable. We chose the best lines today (little wind influence). The bottom line was that it was quite easy to ski and there was no bouncing on a hard surface. Still only 3 stars.

Not entirely without today. In the morning on the ascent, snow plumes were constantly visible in exposed places (point 1: drift snow). On the further ascent, there was an extremely tricky layer of sleet approx. 20 cm below the snow surface at altitudes of approx. 1400 m to 1650 m (becoming increasingly compact towards the top). The snow cover broke off immediately on this layer (a light touch was enough). Although this layer was always quite localized, it was not possible to estimate exactly where it was (point 2: sleet layer). We adjusted our ascent and descent accordingly (flatter terrain). Tomorrow this layer could become interesting with the heat pulse. On the way to the car, a forest path in sunny terrain was covered by an avalanche with a height of approx. 1.5 meters. I suspect that this layer of sleet may also have been involved in this descent. You should take good care and act defensively tomorrow in areas with lots of fresh snow.

Overall impression

Unfortunately, the snow was not of the quality we had hoped for and the avalanche situation was not entirely trivial. Nevertheless, we still managed to ski in good snow and even in good weather at lunchtime.