ALL THINGS AUSTRIA

[carinthian]

1 hour ago, jonboy said:

Not you Carinthian who won the 201m last night!!

No, but still sending the wife out to work !

[Wetterfrosch]

Uhhh, that brings back memories of spending winter school holidays at my grandmothers in the Erzgebirge (Ore mountains) of eastern Germany. Back then (and I'm talking about 50+ years!) it was a given that snow was lying between the end of October and beginning of April, often topping 100 cm with much higher drifts and the need of digging ourselves out to even leave the house, and that at a much lower altitude than the Alps. On my last visit during Advent 2019 it was such a sad sight to not see a single crumb of snow on their Christmas markets and no chance of showing off my beloved Christmas wonderland to my Welsh wife after so much boasting over the years. Amazingly, this year they have been blessed with snow, currently 57 cm on the Fichtelberg mountain at 1214 m ASL. Seeing the lights on the trees in people's gardens lit up from under the snow is just such a magical sight that I will never forget!!! Lucky you!!!!

[Laurence Hill]

Morning Carinthian

Quick question, will the forthcoming SSW event have an effect on the Austrian Alps?

[dubmuffin]

Whatever happened to the Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion? I've just dropped in to see how the snow is holding up in Austria - might be my best option for our first week of March trip...

[carinthian]

 dubmuffin Hi , yes certainly. Rest of Feb looking not so good . March is the best month by a mile and a bit quieter on the slopes. Surely, March will be colder than this Feb in the Eastern Alps !

C

 PS. Have you booked ?

C

[dubmuffin]

 carinthian  No, I haven't booked - keep looking at condition reports and forecasts - trying to see into the future. We were hoping to ski with some old friends in a new resort, (bored of France) and there are logistical reasons it was going to be hard without the added problem of not enough snow!

[carinthian]

Yesterday was the warmest February day at 2000m  since 1961 in the Salzburger Mountains with a temp of 13,9 c at 2400m level . Locally in the lower valleys at 400m , temps of 19 c recorded quite widely. This Feb heading for the warmest February ever in Austria ! No wonder when you see temps of 37c plus being recorded in Morocco. Something is very wrong.

C

[dubmuffin]

The temperatures have been crazy so far this year, but nice to see it dumping down today! Probably few good days to come for those lucky enough to be skiing now. 

[carinthian]

First snowy day for a long time. 35cm and still falling. Will celebrate with a beer or two this evening !

C

[matty40s]

Have been looking at pictures of grandsons skiing holiday in Italy this week and it reminds me of late April in the Cairngorms type conditions!! 

[dubmuffin]

I think we picked a good week to go to Mayrhofen in the end - 2-9th March, Spring snow conditions on the local lower slopes on Sunday as we got our ski legs back, incredible conditions on the glacier on Monday with no wind and full sun all day, Tuesday local again as it clouded over and the wind got up a bit, then a good 30cms or so of snow overnight and all of Wednesday, setting us up for a perfect final two days - the last one exploring the Zillertal Area in glorious sunshine. The conditions for me were perfect - only one icy windblown descent throughout the whole week and we were never cold. The only minor downside was the slushy home runs, but give me slushy moguls over boilerplate ice anytime! We made the most of our pass and visited a few of the areas along the valley, will have to save Kaltenbach for another time. I really enjoyed going back to Austria - made a nice change from the usual high French resorts.

[carinthian]

Late afternoon and temp of 29c in parts of the Tirol.  Looks like records going again. This is the warmest start to any year on record. Crazy.

 

C

[carinthian]

After 30c heat on Sunday. Winter is back today.

[carinthian]

Snow showers galore today. Temp stayed around zero all day. Coldest day for 6 weeks !

C

[carinthian]

Spring has suddenly turned very cold in these parts. Last weekend sitting outside and drinking beer in warm sunshine. So far this morning 17cm of fresh snowfall and temp - 1c. Great for snow farming up on the berg.

 C

[carinthian]

So cold today. Actual temp fell during the afternoon and currently -1.6c with gloom and light snowfall continuous. 20th of April and coldest day since early Feb , now thats weird !

C

[carinthian]

Third day of persistent snowfall in these parts with temp hardly getting above 0c throughout. Measured snow depth  at 1300m  is currently 20 cm and double that 2000m level above village.  

C