Snow report Salzburger Land North, 04/08/2017

Snow condition

It's been really bad, especially compared to the last season, which was also mediocre. It's all about a month further on. Patchy snow from about 1450m on the shaded side, only above 1600m throughout. The amount of fresh snow over the last few days is difficult to estimate, but probably around 15 cm > 2000 m. There was also very little above 2000 m on the wind-exposed ridge. The cirques and gullies are even better.

Snow quality

Almost everything except real powder. Above 2200m it was pressed fresh snow, often wind-treated, and in the sun it quickly became nice firn, in the shade it remained relatively hard until midday. At the bottom it was fairly dull. There were definitely some nice turns.

Overall very compact snow conditions, of course the warming and solar radiation must be taken into account, and we were able to see some medium-sized slopes on steep rock slabs, especially exposed to the sun.

Overall impression

It's actually quite a nice day, but today a wind-protected cirque would have been the better choice. In the Berchtesgaden basin, a few things are still possible if necessary (e.g. Hocheis, Blaueis, Steinernes Meer), the final slopes are still good, but you have to reckon with considerable stretches at the bottom. It's about time for the higher mountains...