UKC

Just got an email from the Heidelberger hut telling me they are closing 5 days early due to the warm weather and the dry winter.
This kind of screws up the tour I have spent ages organising.

Does anyone know if the snow cover is likely to be too poor for the rest of the Silvretta?

Would like to do the tour anyway as it was to be our first Alpine tour and i suspect our standards may be lower than the locals!

I have asked the people at the hut for their opinion and if we can use the winter room, but thought i would see if anyone on here has any info

Thanks in advance
Harry

In reply to thegoatstroker:

If a hut closes early due to conditions I'd be inclined to drop the idea of touring there. You have a load of other areas which still have great spring conditions. In Switzerland the Bernese Oberland and the Tessin, have a look at the snow % cover map for Switzerland. Link here:
http://www.slf.ch/schneeinfo/schneekarten/hsm/index_FR

We are heading to Austria for the Otztal tour in 10 days, one of our guys is German and rang the huts and the feedback on conditions was all good, we are starting in Obergurgl rather than Vent.

Finally we just completed Tour du Soleil last weekend (Binntal to Realp), conditions still good, just needed a taxi to Fald at the start and a 30min walk out to Realp at the end. Here is the vid
vimeo.com/91349423

Sam

In reply to thegoatstroker:

If it's bad enough for the hut to be shutting early, then I'd avoid the Silvretta. That's quite an unusual step they're taking so it must be pretty thin/ non-existent conditions. If you're not experienced alpine tourers, then I'd be wary about being on potentially thinly-covered glacier terrain - you don't want to be falling too much in crevasse fields...

It's very easy to get to Oztal or Stubai from Silvretta (and depending where you're flying to, possibly even easier) so if I were in your position, I'd follow Sam1971's advice. There's plenty of stuff to do in both those areas at similar grades to Silvretta.

have fun

In reply to inboard:

Stubai conditions were poor in my opinion last week, too warm...go higher, Monte Rosa if you can.

In reply to thegoatstroker:

Check out this recent blog post from James Thacker who was guiding in the Silvretta last week. Might be helpful. http://blog.jamesthacker.co.uk

In reply to thegoatstroker:

Thanks for your thoughts everyone, much appreciated.
Think we are going to stick with the Silvretta as cant really face the thought of rearranging everything but go further west sooner as it sounds like the snow cover is better that way.

Won't be too worried if its not brilliant conditions as we are just psyched to be ski touring in the Alps!

Thanks again for your help
Harry

In reply to thegoatstroker:

A couple of friends and I have just finished a five-day tour of the Ortler group. Plenty of snow there. Some warm days, but many of the peaks, glaciers and huts are high enough that the snow will be there for weeks to come. We stayed at Zufall, Branco and Martell huts, all superb. We skiied up Cervedale, Piz Tresaro, Palon de Mare, and the Plattenspitz. Leonard

Just back from the Silvretta traverse. Conditions are generally very good. We skied powder most days (there's been quite a lot of snow above 2400m in the last week). All main summits en route also in decent condition (Piz Buin had plenty of ascents).

Some extra info:

- A new lift was built in Ischgl last year to the top of the Piz Val Gronda so as long as you get the last lift (at 4pm) you can ski straight down to the Heidelberger Hut.

- Bring cash as no huts accept credit cards (despite being the most luxurious I've ever frequented)

- It's possible to ski most of the way down to Galtur - need to walk the last few km's

In reply to Sam Thompson 87:

Cheers Sam, that's encouraging. We have to go straight to the Jamtalhut as Heidelberger is closing on Tuesday.

Unfortunately the weather is not looking so encouraging for next week

Does anyone know if the approach up the Jamtal is likely to be unsafe if it is very warm and rainy?

In reply to thegoatstroker:

If you look at the map you will see the track passes alongside some steep-sided terrain, so potentially, yes, could be unsafe. However, you could do it early morning or late afternoon? The hut warden will pick you up in a snowmobile or, if there are lots of people, pull you behind a piste basher for a fee.