Pollein and Saint-Marcel

The new snow and wind slabs are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack.

The new snow and wind slabs are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack.

The new snow and wind slabs of last week are poorly bonded with the old snowpack in many places. The sometimes deep wind slabs can be released by a single winter sport participant above approximately 2200 m. Places where weaknesses exist in the old snowpack are especially dangerous. These places are barely recognisable, even to the trained eye. In particular adjacent to ridgelines and in pass areas the avalanches can be triggered in the weakly bonded old snow and reach medium size. Caution is to be exercised in particular on very steep northeast, north and northwest facing slopes at the base of rock walls and behind abrupt changes in the terrain. Whumpfing sounds and the formation of shooting cracks when stepping on the snowpack can indicate the danger.

Over a wide area 20 to 40 cm of snow has fallen since Thursday above approximately 1800 m. Several medium-sized and, in isolated cases, large avalanches were reported. The northwesterly wind has transported the new snow significantly. The fresh wind slabs are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack especially on east to north to northwest facing aspects above approximately 2200 m. In particular at higher altitudes snow depths vary greatly, depending on the infuence of the wind. On the windward slopes, ridges, hills and crests are heavily eroded.

The wind slabs are bonding only slowly with the old snowpack.