Snow report San Bernardino, 12/20/2014

Snow condition

From 2200m northwards, you no longer have to look for snow in the region. Below that, there's virtually no snow at all. Above that there is plenty of snow as a consolation! The region has undoubtedly benefited from the intense snowfall during the unfortunately long-gone southern snowstorms.

Snow quality

Once again we found enough snow, but the strong NW winds combined with the high zero degree limit unfortunately destroyed the good starting position. A glassy layer of melted snow has formed on all expos up to around 2500m. Below that, the snow would actually still be quite decent. In places exposed to the wind, the snow is polished hard. Nevertheless, we still found some quite good, settled powder in hollows protected from the wind.

Moderate, main danger fresh, but mostly small-scale drift snow accumulations at all expos above approx. 2400m. I can confirm this. The base for the next snowfalls is very variable and I would rate layers near the surface in particular as unfavorable. There is also a layer of Sahara dust trapped this year, which has been exposed again in some places thanks to the wind.

Overall impression

Sometimes you have to rate other aspects higher than the snow quality. Apart from that, it was once again a fantastic day with an exposed and alpine summit including a Patagonia ambience thanks to the "Coliflores", which are not often seen in the Alps.