Snow report St. Moritz / Engadine, 02/12/2017

Snow condition

The snow conditions at the end of January still left a lot to be desired. For this reason, an almost negligible amount of money was invested in the production of artificial snow to make the race tracks suitable for the World Championships. As soon as they were iced over, Mother Hulda arrived and began to throw snow on top under the constant influence of the wind. This resulted in over 100 cm of snow in a short space of time. Until 8.2, a few centimetres were added again and again overnight. The last few days were then exclusively sunny. An altitude of 1700 - 2600 m is being assessed here. There is enough snow to make some nice turns, but there are some little fish circling just below the surface which are unfortunately not recognizable by their dorsal fins. (A few skis have already fallen victim to them)

Snow quality

All the sun has already taken its toll on the snow below approx. 2000 m. There is still wonderful powder on the north side (where it has not been pressed by the wind). In areas of direct sunlight, the snow cover is already noticeably damp.

Very difficult to assess. A few days ago, spontaneous releases from steep, rocky terrain could still be observed. Now it's mainly snow slabs triggered by skiers in steep terrain.

Overall impression

The few turns that go great unfortunately don't outweigh the respect for rock contact. However, I've never had a descent on the men's World Cup slope in knee-deep powder either