Snow report Yaylalar (Kaçkar Mountains), 02/08/2026

Snow condition

Relatively much snow, when creating a snow profile there was 2m at 2500m. Due to the wind, however, the thickness of the snow was variable and in places exposed to the wind only the stones were covered.

Snow quality

The snow quality was very changeable. Above 2300 m there was a layer of powder snow on a relatively hard surface, but it was easy to ski on. Below 2300 m, the snow was very heavy and partly wet, but also okay to ski on thanks to the fresh snow.

The rising wind has caused some of the fresh snow to drift and there is a risk of drifting snow in hollows. In one of two snow profiles, a weak layer of floating snow was detected at approx. 70cm (2480m, NW exposure, 40 degrees). Due to different snow thicknesses, this weak layer could be much closer to the surface elsewhere.

Overall impression

A successful start to the touring week in the Kaçkar Mountains. Unfortunately, the weather gods are not (yet) on our side, which is why we were still in mostly forested areas today. After a first promising snow profile (2 meters deep, no hair-tearing weak layer), we worked our way back down through a small gully towards Yayalar. The turns were brilliant at the top, but became much harder to ski as the altitude decreased. Due to the first great descent, we set off to head for an adjacent descent. Due to the approaching weather and a not-so-great snow profile on the NW side, we decided to abort the ascent a little earlier than planned. There were no problems on the descent itself and once again good to very good snow conditions for skiing. Now we just have to hope that the weather will improve a bit so that we can venture into more terrain.