Snow report Stubai Valley, 11/22/2018

Snow condition

Snow conditions haven't really improved due to the little fresh snow. There are probably a few options, depending on where the wind has blown the snow away and where it hasn't. Just enough for Schaufelspitze Nord, but you have to reckon with a few sharks. The snow conditions in the gullies on the apery Pfaffengrat are good for the early part of the season, with a bit of eye you can ski many gullies from relatively high up. However, there are still narrow sections and it is advisable to ski the gullies on the ascent in order to better assess the snow conditions. Sometimes it's just a bit of powder on flat rock ;)

Snow quality

Good powder snow in north-facing exposures. The last fresh snow probably fell with the wind, you can feel it a bit. Nevertheless, the dusting was surprisingly good and definitely deeper than expected, as the fresh snow fell on a soft, settled snow cover on the north side.

In addition to crevasses and sharks, the risk of avalanches must now also be taken into account. The last snowfall may not have brought much fresh snow, but the wind has definitely created drift snow.

Overall impression

Two steeper lines on the Stubai Glacier. Thanks to #instagram, we were able to follow Schaufelspitze Nord, where the snow conditions are probably already good enough. You should still be a bit careful because of the sharks, otherwise you could already make nice turns in beautiful powder snow today. Due to the crevasses in the run-out, it is advisable to ski lookers right at the bottom after the flank (middle and lookers left have some large crevasses and lots of stones).
The second line on the plan was once again a gully on the exposed Pfaffengrat. This time the gully all the way lookers left, is even rideable from 10m below the small yoke. The 10m from the snow up to the yoke offer a beautiful view of the Sulzenauferner, but are just a pile of loose rubble and not easy to climb. The gully is also wider at the top than you might think from a distance, but due to the settled snow cover at the top it is easy to ski in jumpturns and without much rock contact. Further down, where it gets wider, there is good powder snow again.
All in all, definitely in the upper 3-star range :)