Snow report Zugspitz Arena, 01/20/2015

Snow condition

Generally very little for this time of year. In the valley at 1000m there is about 20-30cm without any base. The descent into the valley was only possible on a flat forest road - it would have been tight off-piste. At the top it got more and more, at 2500m there was 10-120cm (depending on wind exposure). In the north-facing gullies and cirques, the base is only sufficient above about 2000m for carefree skiing without stone contact (which, in addition to the lack of snow, is also due to the fact that there are simply a lot of stones and debris lying around under the snow). Further down in the area of the tree line (with a forest or meadow base), things look quite good again, but below around 1500 it gets very poor. Take stone skis with you!

Snow quality

Today, almost everything was there. In the shady gully from the Marienbergscharte and in the cirque below, we still found nice, lightly settled powder. Wherever the wind or the sun had had an influence, it was either wind-pressed or covered with an annoying layer of harsh snow.

According to the LWD, the avalanche situation north of the Inn is somewhat more relaxed than on the main Alpine ridge. However, you have to be careful in any case, especially on the sides facing away from the wind (drift snow!). All in all, however, the situation in the Mieminger seemed quite stable.

Overall impression

Only subjectively, today was actually a four or five-star day: a great round tour with great weather, a sunny ascent and a descent through a north-facing gully down into a completely untracked cirque. Objectively speaking, however, the conditions are not ideal (mainly due to the chronic lack of snow, but also because of the sometimes scary snow quality). Therefore: three stars.