Snow report Upper Bavaria, 03/02/2019

Snow condition

The warm temperatures of the last week and the rain from Friday morning have had a negative impact on the snow cover. On the sunny side, it is slowly thinning (some quite large sliding snow slides) and wind-exposed ridges and crests are now more or less snow-free or only very thinly covered with snow. From 1300 m, the amount of fresh snow slowly increased and also became drier as the altitude rose, so that at around 1700 m there was around 15 cm of fresh snow. However, the amount is difficult to estimate due to the rather strong wind on open slopes. The ridges and crests were icy, which means it rained quite high up. At lower altitudes, streams and the like are slowly reappearing.

Snow quality

Nice to ride where it was somewhat sheltered from the wind. At lower altitudes, the slightly wetter snow was still quite good to ski on (there were no tracks yet). Only in the summit area (near the ridge and also a little far from the ridge) was the snow quite dull (drift snow).

The drift snow was easy to recognize and also quite solidly connected to the old snow cover. At least in moderate touring terrain in the northwest exposure below 1700 m. The situation is certainly different in high alpine terrain and on steeper leeward slopes. You should be aware of sliding snow activity and avoid crossing cracks.

Overall impression

The motivation was quite low in the morning and it was well worth setting off afterwards. Nice fresh snow and the crowds were more than limited today despite the vacations.