Snow report Vinschgau Valley, 12/15/2019

Snow condition

there is enough snow above about 1700m, also on the south side, in the upper vinschgau valley, to go ski touring. our starting point today was schlining (picture 1). we climbed the piz rasass (2940m, picture 4)) and had no contact with rocks. free choice of line is possible if you can cope with the current snow conditions.

Snow quality

well, yes!!! in the last few days there was probably extreme wind from all directions. in addition, it probably rained up to about 2500m. currently there is only an extremely inhomogeneous snow cover on the south side. many icy and blown-off areas alternate on a small scale with blown-in and wind-covered areas. you often break in. the sun couldn't soften the cover on the south side today either. quite ok on the ascent, but one of the worst descents I've ever had. you have to constantly expect to break in. controlled turns are not possible.

the south tyrolean 2 was justified. the snow cover is generally well consolidated, from 2500m even often with a supporting ice lamella. the blown-in areas are not large enough to be able to release dangerous snow slabs there. in the ridge area quite a lot has been blown off (picture 3) and you don't like driving in the blown-in gullies anyway because there is a constant danger of breaking in. no booming noises, no remote triggering, no easily triggered snow slides, not even in >35° terrain. the snow cover is small-scale, close to the surface, although it has been transformed to build it up (deep crumbling snow), it still makes a fairly stable and well-settled impression. this initial situation won't change significantly until the next snowfall. we'll have a look at what it looks like on the north side tomorrow.

Overall impression

1 star for the good weather. 2 stars for the sufficient snow conditions to be able to undertake reasonable ski tours. to get back to the valley safely, however, a very good skiing technique, or a very pronounced ability to suffer is necessary. for this there's another 1st star deduction.