Border Pennine Alps

The fresh snow and the often large wind slabs represent the main danger. The current avalanche situation calls for defensive route selection.

The fresh snow and the often large wind slabs represent the main danger. The current avalanche situation calls for defensive route selection.

The fresh wind slabs can be released by a single winter sport participant in all altitude zones. They are to be found in gullies and bowls, and behind abrupt changes in the terrain, this also applies at a distance from ridgelines. Whumpfing sounds and the formation of shooting cracks when stepping on the snowpack and natural avalanches serve as an alarm sign. As a consequence of warming during the day and solar radiation dry and moist avalanches are possible, but they can be large. The avalanche danger is within the uppermost range of danger level 3 (considerable).

40 to 80 cm of snow, and even more in some localities, has fallen above approximately 1600 m. Over a wide area new snow and wind slabs are lying on the soft surface of an old snowpack. As a consequence of sharply rising temperatures and rain up to approximately 1400 m the snowpack could not consolidate.