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austrian snow conditions

17th January 2009 permanent link

Warmer weather and light falls of new snow have dramatically improved conditions in the Austrian Alps.

Temperatures are now a bit a bit below freezing in the valleys, about ten degrees (celsius) on average warmer than a week ago. On-piste snow is a lot more mellow and pleasant as a result.

Off-piste there’s enough fresh snow to be enjoyably boardable. Dream powder it’s not by any stretch of the imagination; floating through a couple of powder turns, then hitting a stretch of old bumpy snow lurking underneath, is the order of the day. But that’s ok: as the great rock climber Ron Fawcett said, “if you’re not falling, you’re not learning”. And after a week of nothing but increasingly cement-like pistes, I was delighted to get the season’s first couple of runs in on the proper stuff.

See also the excruciatingly detailed report and analysis on snow-forecast.com.

related entries: Snowboarding

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