Chiemgau Alps East

Risk of taking a fall because of slab avalanches in extremely steep terrain!

Risk of taking a fall because of slab avalanches in extremely steep terrain!

Avalanche danger at and above the timberline is moderate; below it is low. The main problem: snowdrifts. Slab avalanches can be triggered even by low additional loading such as a single skier; they attain small to medium size. Avalanche prone locations are found in steep terrain in all aspects also distant from ridgelines, at the base of rockwalls as well as in steep gullies and bowls. Size and frequency of avalanche prone locations increase with ascending altitude. At high altitudes the old snowpack also contains intermediate layers that are prone to triggering. Where slab avalanches are triggered by large additional loading these can grow to medium size.

Stormy wind continues to transport loose snow. Snowdrifts are deposited atop an inhomogeneous and wind-impacted old snowpack surface. In many places there is graupel. Below 1500 m in all expositions, and on the sunny side up to high altitudes, there is a thin melt-freeze crust close to the surface which is mostly not capable of bearing loads and underneath which large crystals have formed. More deeply embedded in the old snowpack at high altitude are layers consisting of expansively metamorphosed snow crystals. However, these are now difficult to trigger. At low and intermediate altitudes the snowpack is mostly stable.

Marked rise of avalanche danger due to fresh snow and wind, in particular in the eastern part of the Bavarian Alps.