Chiemgau Alps East

Trigger-sensitive snowdrifts. At low altitudes only little snow on wet ground.

Trigger-sensitive snowdrifts. At low altitudes only little snow on wet ground.

Avalanche danger above the treeline is moderate, below that altitude danger is low. The snowdrifts of recent days are the problem: slab avalanches (small-to-medium size) can in places trigger by large additional loading, e.g. a skier group w/o maintaining distances. Avalanche prone locations are found particularly above the timberline in steep ridgeline terrain in N/E/W aspects, in freshly wind-loaded gullies and bowls and behind protruberances. Avalanche prone locations increase with ascending altitude and also become larger. The snowdrifts are often covered by a bit of new snow, making them hard to recognize. Especially in the Allgäu, isolated small-to-medium glide-snow avalanches can release on steep grassy slopes which have not yet discharged and in forest clearances.

The drifts of recent days are settling and consolidating, now getting blanketed with a bit of new snow. At high altitudes, bonding of snowdrifts to the melt-freeze encrusted and sometimes iced-over snowpack surface is worse than at intermediate altitudes. In some places, a thin layer of faceted crystals has formed beneath the melt-freeze crusts. The snowpack fundament is stable. At lower altitudes the new snow often fell on bare ground.

Depending on amounts of new snow and wind, avalanche danger could increase on the weekend.