Snow report Sölden, Ötztal, 01/04/2014

Snow condition

Not exactly exhilarating, but only just below average for the area, in any case much better than in the northern Alps. In general, you have to watch out for stones, especially in the lowest parts of the ski area where there is still hardly any snow and then again in the higher areas where large areas have been blown away by the wind. The best area is just above the tree line.

Snow quality

Quite ok, although many areas were windswept and also very wet fresh snow, at least up to around 2400m. Unfortunately, there was only about 5 cm of fresh snow in the valley and a good 20 cm on the mountain. Over the course of the day, another 5cm was added, but you can usually get through on the mostly very hard surface. Even the old tracks weren't properly covered up, which made riding a lot less fun.

Critical, see LLB. The snow is completely packed and often blown away by the wind, even if it is not as bad as the last snowfall, which was also much heavier. Due to the limited visibility, assessment was also difficult. We were only on the flat.

Overall impression

I've got used to little snow, small amounts of fresh snow and critical avalanche conditions by now, but when you add visibility that fluctuates between ski tips and 4m (and there's not enough snow in the front and back in the forest), you can start to think about staying at home.