Nízke Tatry - západ

Beware of wind-drifted snow slabs and pillows, lying on hard crust.

Beware of wind-drifted snow slabs and pillows, lying on hard crust.

In Mala Fatra and Low Tatras there is a low avalanche danger (1st degree) above the forest zone, the main avalanche problem is wind-blown snow. Dangerous are mainly leeward sides of ridges, narrow chutes and places under rock walls. Here there may be wind-blown slabs and cushions of different hardness, which are deposited on a hard base, the two layers being weakly interconnected. These places in the terrain are relatively easy to spot. The second avalanche problem is a permanently weak layer. Shady orientations and the northern slopes of our mountain ranges are therefore particularly dangerous. Only small avalanches in isolated locations are at risk, which, once released, pose a risk especially in combination with terrain traps (protruding rocks, terrain depressions or rock precipices).

Between 5 and 10 cm of new snow has been added in recent days. The snow is very unevenly distributed due to strong winds. The windward sides and the tops of ridges are blown into the hard ground, sometimes even into rocks and grass. On the leeward sides the snow is deposited in slabs and pillows. Loose powder snow is found where the wind intensity is less. On average there is between 15 and 30 cm of snow in our mountains. A continuous snow cover is mostly found above the forest belt.

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