Snow report Sölden, Ötztal, 01/14/2014

Snow condition

Still not much snow, and not much more since the last report. But the area isn't exactly a snow hole either, so I'd still say it's a bit below average for mid-January. Above about 2400m you can ski off-piste quite well, at least in areas sheltered from the wind, but you'll constantly hit rocks on the tops and ridges. Between 2100 and 2400m you can still ski, but it's quite rocky. Below that it's just not enough.

Snow quality

Less than 10cm of fresh snow in the valley, but increasing rapidly with altitude. Above 2500m the tracks were covered in snow, at 3000m over 20cm new. Very fluffy, even though there was little wind, but the quality was hardly affected. There were one or two face shots today.

The warning service issued a 3 today, it seemed relatively relaxed to me. Quite little fresh snow with very little wind... I couldn't see any avalanche activity either, which of course doesn't mean much.

Overall impression

Actually quite nice, at least for a few hours until the terrain was tracked further up. Pleasantly little going on, even if there were a few freeriders on site. Still a very relaxed atmosphere. Unfortunately, there was not much base and not too much fresh snow.