Pollein and Saint-Marcel

Backcountry touring and snowshoe hiking call for meticulous route selection.

The danger will persist.

Backcountry touring and snowshoe hiking call for meticulous route selection.

Small and medium-sized avalanches are still even now not ruled out. Avalanches can be released in the weakly bonded old snow, even by a single winter sport participant. Whumpfing sounds and the formation of shooting cracks when stepping on the snowpack serve as an alarm sign. Remotely triggered avalanches are possible. In addition the wind slabs should be taken into account, in particular on very steep northeast, east and southeast facing slopes, and in gullies and bowls, and behind abrupt changes in the terrain above approximately 2400 m. These places are covered with new snow and are therefore barely recognisable, even to the trained eye. Maintaining distances between individuals and one-at-a-time descents are recommended.

Up to 15 cm of snow, and even more in some localities, will fall on Wednesday above approximately 2000 m. As a consequence of rising temperatures and partly cloudy skies a crust formed on the surface during the last two days. The new snow will be deposited on a crust on steep sunny slopes, especially on steep sunny slopes between approximately 1900 and 3000 m. Weak layers exist in the snowpack especially on steep west, north and east facing slopes. Reports filed by observers and stability tests confirm the unfavourable bonding of the snowpack. When freeriding, bear in mind that many off-piste routes have barely been used at all this winter to date. Since Saturday above approximately 2400 m several small and medium-sized avalanches were released. The amount of snow is subject to significant local variations above approximately 2000 m.