Snow report Upper Bavaria, 01/31/2021

Snow condition

Until the middle of the week, it was possible to start ski tours from the valley in the Mangfallgebirge. Thanks to rain, storms and temperatures in the clear plus range from Thursday onwards, this is no longer the case and you now have to head for the high starting points. Even at the starting altitude of 1100 m, snow has disappeared over the last few days. The overall snowpack situation has not changed fundamentally: Ridges, ridges and exposed areas are still more or less bare and where there was already some, there is simply less of it now. I would estimate the loss of snow over the days at around 30 cm.

Snow quality

On our descent, there was around 10 cm of rather damp fresh snow. This was surprisingly easy to ski on, with hardly any bounce on the hard surface. As the terrain was untracked, it was great for skiing. It was too good for 2 stars, so just under 3 stars.

The precipitation overnight sometimes came with less wind and was mostly on a hard surface (frozen or wind-pressed). Most of the time this was not prone to interference. We were out and about in terrain up to 1600 m and below 30 degrees. I would estimate that the rainfall goes up to approx. 1500 m. At lower altitudes you should be aware of the sliding snow, above that the drifting snow. Temperatures were around freezing point at the start shortly after 7am today.

Overall impression

Better than expected. Started without great expectations, the first few meters were a mixture of rain and snowfall, but then it got better quite quickly.
One more thing on the subject of corona: I can understand that many people are now annoyed by the restrictions. But the question is, is it really necessary in these times for groups of 10 to set off on a ski tour next to each other or ski end to ski end communicating loudly (so that everyone knows that they all belong together)? Will it be better this way?