Comment: This is a very popular and easy tour and thus can be crowded, especially on sunny weekends.
Central Switzerland got over half a meter of fresh snow last week and André Müller and myself headed to Andermatt this Saturday to check out the situation. The Gemsstock Ski Area was already open. But we put on our skis and skins in Realp (1538m), where the Furka train tunnel to the Wallis starts. Stotzigen First (2747m) was our target for the day. This tour is very safe, very popular, but quite long with an ascent of about 1200m. There were about 20 tourers on the way. Some headed for the somewhat lower Lägenden First (2542m). From there it takes about another 1 hour to reach Stotzigen First.
It took about 2.5 hours from the Realp parking lot to the peak. We were quite a bit exhausted as the tour is not short. Weather was warm and sunny and the snow looked quite powdery.
We rested about 30 minutes on the top. Views are good, but not spectacular. The powder on the way down was awesome (for November). In summary, conditions were better than in most winter months.
swisspowder.net 