Snow report Salzkammergut mountains, 02/16/2019

Snow condition

Impressive snow walls greeted us early in the morning at Lake Gosau. The snow conditions are excellent, only at the very top near the ridge can you see a stronger wind.

Snow quality

Beautifully set powder snow on north-facing slopes protected from the wind. Further up, more and more wind influence. An alternation between compact and soft areas.

The LLB issued a 2 today and yesterday. This can be confirmed. Transitions from a little to a lot of snow are manageable, blown-in zones are easily recognizable. Keep an eye on the daily pattern and possible catchment areas from sunlit slopes!

Overall impression

When planning yesterday's tour, we weren't quite sure whether we would find the powder we were hoping for. The first option towards Donnerkogel was already too rutted for us, so we headed over to Weitkar. There were significantly fewer tracks there and still plenty of space for steep gullies or large cirques. After some deliberation, we went up a short, steep gully and then skied northwards on the other side. Two things were important: how much sun has the short ascent already received and how heavy is the snow already? What do the possible catchment areas for the other side look like? The early start time still gave us some leeway. The upper part of the exit was already damp, but still ok. The descent in was awesome, but the middle section had already been cleared out by a recent descent from sunlit slopes above. We moved quickly from one "island of safety" to the next and communicated by radio. After the critical part, it was back to the finest pleasure turns. All in all, it was a dream day and the powder poker worked like a charm.