Snow report Upper Black Forest, 01/17/2021

Snow condition

Even better than yesterday. 10 cm new this morning at the start at 300 m (!). So a good 30 - 40 cm at the start, then quickly 60 - 80 cm of snow on the apple orchards. Another 5 - 10 cm added by midday. A good meter of snow at the top at 900 m. Up to the parking lot at 300 m everything was rideable without contact with the enemy (most of the time it was also meadow. For the altitude, that's 5 stars.

Snow quality

High stakes and lucky. 1-2 degrees more and today would have been a day to forget... But it snowed all the way down to the Rhine plain and it was around or below 0 degrees all night. Some heavy fresh snow at the parking lot, but not completely sticky. From approx. 400 - 500 m upwards, there was very good powder snow, although not quite as fluffy as the last few days (because it was a bit warmer). Still, no reason to complain. It was really dusty!

Now it's getting really dicey. With the rise in temperature and further precipitation, I would avoid all steep slopes. There's an acute risk of snow breakage in the forest. The avalanche on the Feldberg today was a foregone conclusion... Our tour was flat enough to have hardly any avalanche danger, but steep enough to still have a lot of fun. Fruit tree plantations are also said to substantially stabilize the snow cover ;)

Overall impression

This morning was one of my top 5 Black Forest ski days, far away from the Feldberg! Very lonely tour, just the right slope and skiing without a handbrake. Approx. 500 m of powder and only a pasture fence in between, that's 3-4 stars even in the Alps;) Powdering between apple and pear trees and snow-covered Black Forest farms without any fine contact is something very special, hence 5 stars. PowderGuide is currently flooded with Black Forest reports, but these are really unique conditions at the moment. It seems I was a bit luckier today than my colleagues further south;) But the warm temperatures are now arriving here too. On the way back in the Rhine valley, there was already more rain than snow, so I'm afraid that's it for now with the predicted warming. But I won't forget the last four days in a hurry!