Snow report St. Moritz / Engadine, 11/12/2018

Snow condition

We took the gondola up to the Diavolezza today. the snow conditions generally look reasonable. a descent to the valley station is also feasible with about 150m of snow. There's almost no snow on the Bernina Pass itself, almost all of it has been blown away, and at the top there's about 30-120cm, depending on the expo and the wind. There are a few blown-off ridges. We were always above 2700m today. No stone contact here if you keep your eyes open.

Snow quality

On the sunny side, it's mostly a stable hardpack with 5cm of powder in places. Mostly pleasant to ride, if the sun stays on it a little longer (today zt fog) it probably even firns up quite casually. On the shaded side in steep gullies nicely set powder, not completely dry but quite easy to ride.

Relaxed overall. On the shaded side, watch out for drift snow close to the crest, which is a bit tricky. You shouldn't venture onto the glaciers. There is probably so much snow that you can no longer see the crevasses, but they still pose a danger.

Overall impression

Casual first off-road tour. Quite surprised by the sometimes really good conditions.
At the moment, only the Diavolezza and the chairlift are running in the Engadin (piste conditions also look great). Not much else going on either. About 10 cars in the parking lot at 08:30.
We'll go to Corvatsch tomorrow. According to the locals, there should be even more snow there.