Snow report Salzburger Land Süd, 01/20/2018

Snow condition

3 stars with one eye closed. Poor at lower altitudes. Only with great caution is it possible to avoid ground contact in the valleys. In the denser forest, you still have to be careful on the north side, even at middle altitudes. In the larch forest and on the higher alpine pastures, however, you can really step on the gas. (Possibly a touch more than in the Berchtesgadener Kessel).

Snow quality

In the area from about 1500m-2000m - as long as there was no wind - it was mega. Very fine pow averaging 20-30cm on soft but compact old snow. Above that it's wind- and partly sun-influenced, but we only had a few meters. The lowest meters are already a bit warm and at the very bottom you can feel a cap.

You have to be careful what you do. We were exclusively in defensive terrain with only very short, steeper passages. Above the tree line, a lot has been buried and there are always weak layers to be critically assessed at varying depths. For example, we found a layer of large crystals at a depth of 40 cm at an altitude of approx. 1800 m NW, and the block came off relatively easily and smoothly.

Overall impression

Great day in Grossarltal with unexpectedly great weather, incredibly beautiful views and really good snow.
Unfortunately, the amount of snow here also left a lot to be desired. We were also lucky and were the third on the slope, and there were probably another 25 people at the bottom.