Snow report Verbier, 03/30/2017

Snow condition

The area around Arolla is generally an area with very little precipitation, similar to the Ötztal. Nevertheless, it is still particularly poor here this season. The big snowfall, after a few days of a 4-person snowfall 3 weeks ago, has done the area good. Before that, almost nothing worked. Glaciers are now well covered in snow. However, I wouldn't go onto the wild glaciers in this area this season without a rope. Be careful on steep, wind-exposed sections at high altitudes, which are often still bare. When crossing the Pigne d' Arolla to the Cabane des Dix, there are a few meters of bare ice on the sloping glacier ridge. The crevasses in the upper part of Mont Blanc de Cheilon, which are not so small, are also well covered in snow. Nevertheless, I wouldn't climb up without a rope.

Snow quality

Lots of wind at high altitudes and therefore hard-packed windsnow. We found the best snow between 3400m and 2900m. Firn runs are definitely at their best now. At high altitudes, however, the snow will certainly not be transformed yet. So if you want good snow, you should head for the medium-high peaks.

On the way there, we undertook a ski tour in Andermatt on the Winterhorn. Andermatt and southern Valais (including Arolla) are the two areas with the worst snow cover this winter. In Andermatt we were able to observe a large spontaneous avalanche due to the old snow. There were significantly more in Arolla. At least 3 spontaneous avalanches with high avalanche edges in every valley. There were also some very large avalanches with avalanche edges over 500m wide (back of La Luette). Avalanches have all occurred at medium altitudes. There have also been steeper avalanches such as Aiguille de la Tsa. But I would still be extremely careful there.

Overall impression

We did 2 tours starting in Arolla and one from the Cabane des Dix. There was still very little activity as we were there in the first few days after the hut opened. It's only really busy on the first and last weekend of the season. Now it's very busy on the Haute Route. But you can also avoid this by doing tours only from Arolla (e.g. Pigne d' Arolla). You can stay at the Hôtel du glacier for 40 francs with a very good breakfast.