Snow report Tannheimer Valley, 01/26/2021

Snow condition

excellent!!! from pp (800m), now min. 50cm. overnight there was another min. 30cm fresh pow.

Snow quality

it was an epic powder day because it was very cold today, with temperatures well below zero even during the day, no sunshine and the wind only raging on the ridges. it was even too much of a good thing for flatter sections. we skied south and north up to 1700m.

even below the forest line, on all open edges and surfaces, extensive drift snow deposits. the fresh drift snow is very brittle (even the mohair skins no longer glide easily over it), forms cracks easily, but these do not propagate over a large area. the track wedges hold, even in steeper passages. with a sensible choice of route, the avalanche risk below the forest line is manageable. we also skied steeper passages (up to approx. 40°) because it is simply not possible to make any progress with a lower gradient. however, this should be carefully considered! strong winds blew from the west all day and transported massive amounts of snow. it also snowed all day long, so it remains quite tricky.

Overall impression

amazing amount of fresh snow overnight. i would not have expected this in the area. unrestricted free choice of lines possible, even in the forest. on the south side there is a crust of hard snow under the fresh snow, which sometimes causes surprises. but the fresh snow holds well on top. with less wind and some sun, it would have been 5 stars. for me, the best day of the season so far.