PowderAlert #1 is a fact, but it’s not going to be an easy one. Only a limited number of glaciers have their lifts open and, to be quite honest, only Hintertux is an option at the moment. It won’t be that cold south of the main alpine ridge and there just isn’t enough snow on the other glaciers.
But hey, it’s early October and this snow is pretty much to pull the glaciers through autumn. Nothing more, nothing less. The fact that the stoke is already pretty high has more to do with everyone’s desire for winter, than with exceptional conditions. But that faceshot on Friday or Saturday will feel good nonetheless.
Watch out!
It’s really early in the season. As in REALLY early. There is no base and you’ll find a lot of crevasses on the glaciers next to the marked slopes. The wind will kick in from the south during the night from Thursday to Friday and will be really strong (6BFT or 7BFT) on the highest peaks on Friday and Saturday. If you have some knowledge of backcountry safety, you’ll know that you’ll find drift snow on those places where there still was a little base layer left from September. There might be a chance that you can ride down to the Hintertux base area from the Sommerbergalm, because it will snow a lot an Friday might be the day.
The forecast
The scenario that we’ve been communicating all week is still going strong. A low pressure area from the north bonds with a low pressure area in the Po valley. This is resulting in a cold front coming in from the north, ending in a storm from the south when the low pressure area is heading west. So, what does this mean?
The weather in the Alps will change on Thursday afternoon. The front will come in from the northwest and will cause the snowline to drop rapidly (starting in the west) to around 700-1000 meters. The snowline will be around 1900-2300 meters south of the main alpine ridge and in the eastern regions of Austria. But the snowline will drop eventually in those regions during the night from Thursday to Friday. This will be just temporarily in the east.
The wind will change to the south during the night from Thursday to Friday, the snow will come back again from the south and the wind will blow all day from the south. You can expect around 40-80 centimeters between Thursday and Friday afternoon. The problem: the wind. The sun might come out on Friday afternoon, but the wind will be stronger and stronger!
The wind will be even stronger on Saturday and we even can expect around 7 BFT. The temperature will rise as well. The storm will still be strong on Sunday. To summarize everything: it’s going to be a stormy PowderAlert. Ride safe out there!
Stay stoked
Morris