Pollein and Saint-Marcel

From the late morning as a consequence of new snow and wind there will be a gradual increase in the danger. Backcountry touring and other off-piste activities call for experience in the assessment of avalanche danger and careful route selection.

From the late morning as a consequence of new snow and wind there will be a gradual increase in the danger. Backcountry touring and other off-piste activities call for experience in the assessment of avalanche danger and careful route selection.

The new snow and wind slabs of Saturday will be deposited on the unfavourable surface of an old snowpack. They can be released even by a single winter sport participant. Weak layers in the upper part of the snowpack can be released. Such avalanche prone locations are barely recognisable, even to the trained eye. Areas that are largely protected from the wind where surface hoar has been covered with snow are especially precarious. Whumpfing sounds and the formation of shooting cracks when stepping on the snowpack serve as an alarm sign. Above approximately 2200 m medium-sized to large natural dry avalanches are possible, in particular on very steep slopes adjacent to ridgelines in high Alpine regions. They can be released in deeper layers also.

Evening and night: 10 to 20 cm of snow, and even more in some localities, will fall until Saturday above approximately 1800 m. On Monday numerous medium-sized and, in isolated cases, large avalanches were observed. The snowpack is unfavourably layered; its surface is loosely bonded and consists of surface hoar. Sunshine and high temperatures gave rise to moistening of the snowpack in particular on sunny slopes below approximately 2900 m. As a consequence of highly fluctuating temperatures a crust formed on the surface during the last few days, this also applies on shady slopes below approximately 2000 m. In particular at intermediate altitudes less snow than usual is lying. On sunny slopes below approximately 2200 m hardly any snow is lying.

As a consequence of new snow and wind there will be only a slight increase in the danger.