UKH

We're off to Germany (Berchtesgaden/Konnigsee) in 4 weeks.

We are thinking of doing Watzmann if we feel confident enough to tackle ridges in the snow- if not, Hoher Goll seems like a safer option.

Any advice for Hiking around here in April?

April? Bring your skis, especially if you are going above 2000 m. the long term DAV weather forecast is only sure of one thing, and that is a trend towards dropping temps from next weekend onwards.

CB

No skis (don't ski) 

Will just be taking the crampons, ice axe, ropes etc... 

Hochkalter just to the West is a good tour, up via Blaueis and down through the Ofental. Easy rock up to UIAA II. No idea how the avalanche situation will be in April, though.

No idea how your german is, but this website

https://www.alpenverein.de/DAV-Services/Bergwetter/Chiemgau-Berchtesgaden-T...

is ideal for your local weather forecast.

Avy forecast here:

https://www.lawinenwarndienst-bayern.de/res/start_winter.php

CB

Snowshoes are the way forward. Built-in crampons for ice, and floatation for snow. Unless you're on steep, rocky ground with thin snow they're awesome.

Also, look at the webcams on fotowebcam.eu to check the snow levels.

RE: avalanche danger - I'd also like to know what people's thoughts are on being roped up ("moving together") as a  safety measure. 

I  saw a documentary about how one climber was found, then found the other by tracing the rope to the other climber. 

I then wondered about the other scenario where you (or your partner) partner gets berried, and the other doesn't, you could find them by tracing the rope back to them. 

I feel that I'd prefer to do that than search around in the snow. 

I have a 60m Beal opera rope, so we would be quite far apart. 

In my opinion it's sort of a secondary question - the main safety measure is having a good idea of avalanche conditions, terrain, and forecast (as well as being able to judge local conditions yourself when you're on the hill) to minimise the chances of getting avalanched in the first place.

And getting buried is not the only risk here - if it's a slab breaking off underneath the party and carrying one (or both) of you down the slope, then the rope might just pull the other party down as well.

This. Plus, being roped up on terrain you wouldn't normally do this because of avalanche could easily swing the other way as well - yes, it would be easier for mountain rescue to find you or for one partner to find the other(s) but then again it also could lead to all of you being dragged along instead of just one. The forces involved  in an avalanche can be enormous.

So we've decided (as our first choice) to do Hoher Goll via the Mannelgrat Klettersteig/ViaFerrata , and back down Alpeltal (although the terrain though Alpeltal looks prime for avalanche).

Hopefully the weather/avy forecast isn't too bad by the 16th April.

I looked at Hochkalter (via Blaueis) as someone suggested here, but the top ridges (from videos i've seen) seem a bit too steep/exposed for our liking.  

Jenner seems a bit too easy/standard hike. 

Does anyone have any other suggestions for a Plan B?
(Soemthing that can be done in 1 day, nothing as exposed as Watzmann, but not as simple as Jenner)

Thanks 

I could see the snowy Alps from Zugspitze to central Switzerland from my breakfast table this morning, but since then the clouds have moved in. It has started raining here but will be snowing above 1500m, with the snow line creeping up over the next days.

If you did it today the ferrata would be a full on winter climb, as the steel cables are probably still buried.

Next Tuesday we expect a massive jump in temps, so wet snow and ground avalanches will become a problem. Maybe another Sahara dust event as well, good thing I did not bother cleaning my car.

My plans for the week after Easter include some nice and sunny springtime ski mountaineering a bit higher up, if conditions allow it! VFs at around 2000m will just have to wait....

CB

Condition report for you from yesterday - I went up Zäunlkopf 1749m just south of Scharnitz yesterday.  Had to put the snowshoes on at ~1600m, the snow was fairly firm but without the snowshoes you'd break through every few strides and go up to your thigh if it was deep. Quite dangerous with fallen trees to plunge onto. The snowline has visibly risen over the past few days,  mainly by the last week's snow melting off I think.  There are patches of snow lying down to valley level (960m) on north sides of mountains. Weather has been glorious and very warm - 21° at valley level.  Lawinendienst website has been giving moderate risk in the afternoons from 'wet snow' avalanches.

Attempted Hoher Goll via the Mannlgrat ridge on Sunday. Superb day, no clouds.

Started the climb at 10:30am from the North/West side up to Khelstein.

Snow was hard, around 2/3m deep between 1000m - 1500m

Reached Khelstein at about 15:30, and got to about 1,890m at the start of the Mannlgrat klettersteig.

Being the first time we've been in the Alps in snowy conditions, we were a little bit intimidated to go further. My man concerns were the exposed section that is very steep (where the Mannlgrat connects to the summit rige of Hoher Goll) - My other concern was not knowing what
to expect on the snowy Umgang and getting down the Apaltal. 

The snow was getting softer the higher we got. 

It was also a bit late in the day to be making any mistakes. We had head torches, but the idea of getting a bit of "stage fright" above 2000m, being slow in decision making and navigation, I thought I was best not to be in that situation in the dark.  

The sun was warming up the east side of the mountain, and small bits of ice and rock were falling down.

Ultimately, I'm not an experienced alpinist - but grateful that I have enough knowledge to
do the right thing and turn back... until next time