Snow report Stubai Valley, 03/31/2019

Snow condition

In the off-piste terrain, everything is easy to ski down to the Mutterbergalm. Some of the ridges have been blown away and there is a little less snow on the steep north-facing terrain than in other exposures. The access gullies from the north side of the Schaufelspitze still look rocky, but there seems to be enough snow to slide down. The snow conditions on the northern flank of the Schaufelspitze as well as on other slopes can be seen in the photos (gullies on the apery Pfaffengrat, Zuckerhütl & Pfaffenschneid north face, Warenkarseitenspitze, Windacher Daunkogel, Schussgrubenkogel, Östlicher Daunkogel north flank, Stubaier Wildspitze Süd).

Snow quality

We found some beautiful powder snow today. Not only in a north-facing gully, but also high up on the east side on the direct descent from the summit of the rear Daunkopf (3225m) towards Glamergrube. There were pretty good conditions in a gully on the rough Pfaffengrat. It was a bit deep to stomp up, but the snow was still very powdery on the descent. Steeper slopes, which are already getting a lot of sunshine, are not really worthwhile at the moment. For firn snow, the snow cover is not yet stable enough, at least at higher altitudes.

On our descents today, we had to watch out for sluff due to the loose powder snow, which takes a lot of snow with it in narrow gullies. Otherwise, watch out for wet snow avalanches on sunny slopes during the course of the day.

Overall impression

Super day with beautiful, steep lines in good powder snow. I haven't yet skied the gully on the pear-shaped Pfaffengrat in better conditions. Chutes and slopes where the sun barely shines in still have good snow. This means you can also ski steeper sections there in good snow conditions. The steepest part of the gully on the rough Pfaffengrat and the east-facing descent from the summit of the rear Daunkopf are around 45 degrees.

Otherwise, almost every centimetre of the direct off-piste terrain on the Stubai Glacier has already been ploughed up. But if you take skins with you or walk a little, you can still find untracked terrain with relatively little ascent.