Snow report Sölden, Ötztal, 01/31/2014

Snow condition

The snow conditions are now good, but not really amazing either. It has snowed quite a bit since the evening before yesterday, it's hard to say exactly as it rained down below and was very windy at the top. But at 2500m it must have been around 50cm on average... As far as the amount of snow is concerned, off-piste skiing above the tree line is quite possible, although there are still stones peeking out on crests and ridges or stones are only covered by a little snow. In the forest it quickly becomes scarce, so it only makes sense to ski at the highest altitudes.

Snow quality

After the mediocre conditions due to the wet snow in the south yesterday, I preferred to go as far up as possible today. Unfortunately, that didn't help either. Thanks to rain up to just under 2000m and the zero degree line well above that, the snow is very wet, and even completely wet until just above the tree line. Above the tree line, the snow was also heavily compressed by the wind, so you have wind slush almost everywhere with cement-like, damp fresh snow underneath... So much fresh snow is (fortunately) rarely so little fun to ride. Some people would probably give it 2 stars, but I only give it one because I prefer to ski on the piste in snow like this...

Extremely tricky. Above the tree line, everything that is steep enough actually turns into a snow slab. Several snow slabs have been triggered by winter sports enthusiasts. Due to the avalanche situation and the strong wind, almost no lifts are in operation.

Overall impression

Unfortunately, that was nothing. It's slowly starting to have a basis now (except in the lower areas in the forest), but there's not much you can do with the current situation. Bad avalanche situation, hardly any lifts in operation and snow that is not good to ski. We can only hope that it will snow again at lower temperatures...