Chiemgau Alps East

Fresh snowdrifts prone to triggering

Avalanche danger levels are expected to recede again.

Fresh snowdrifts prone to triggering

Avalanche danger above 1600m is moderate, below that altitude danger is low. Fresh snowdrift accumulations are problematic. Small slab avalanches can be triggered even by one sole skier. Danger zones occur in steep ridgeline terrain on W/N/E facing slopes and in wind-loaded gullies and bowls. Give consideration to the risks of being swept alone and forced to take a fall.

As a result of strong-velocity southerly winds, small-sized snowdrifts are accumulating. These are being deposited atop an irregular snowpack and can be prone to triggering, particularly if the old snowpack in shady regions is expansively metamorphosed. At high altitudes, in addition, trigger-sensitive intermediate layers in the uppermost part of the snowpack have persisted. Larger fractures over wide surfaces are unlikely. On south-facing slopes there is little snow on the ground, usually encrusted in the early morning hours, then softening later on. In wind-exposed terrain, the snowpack surface is wind-pressed; on shady slopes there is still loosely-packed zone atop a stable old snowpack fundament in wind-protected zones.