Snow report Salzburger Land Süd, 12/27/2013

Snow condition

Conditions are significantly worse than at the end of November. It is still just possible to go on a north-facing ski tour from the car. In the west and south-facing exposures, the snow is rapidly disappearing. The foehn has also ravaged the forests: There are many fallen trees, which do not always make progress easy. Many north-west exposures have even been almost completely blown out by the foehn.

Snow quality

In the summit area about 20 cm of fresh snow, which was nice to ski as long as it was in places protected from the wind. Otherwise a mix of wind cover and frozen patches.

Over the course of the tour, the southerly wind has picked up more and more, and has clearly brought snow with it. On the lee side, cracks can be seen in the steeper terrain. The drift snow can be found in every nook and cranny and is very easy to disturb as it lies on a sometimes very hard base. At the moment, I would strongly advise against venturing into steep leeward terrain!

Overall impression

A lonely tour away from the Christmas hustle and bustle! There were a few nice turns. Given the current poor snow conditions, we certainly didn't have a bad time today. The avalanche situation should be taken quite seriously at the moment.