Berchtesgaden Alps

At high altitudes slab avalanches can grow to large size.

At high altitudes slab avalanches can grow to large size.

Avalanche danger above the treeline is considerable, below that altitude avalanche danger is low. The main problem: fresh and older snowdrifts. In some places, slab avalanches can be triggered even by minimum additional loading; at high altitudes, isolated slabs can be large. Avalanche prone locations are found adjacent to and distant from ridges in steep terrain in NW/W/SW aspects as well as in wind-loaded gullies and bowls and tend to increase in frequency and size with ascending altitude. Particularly during the latter part of the day, small, loose-snow avalanches can trigger naturally in extremely steep terrain.

As a result of strong westerly winds, 10 to 30 cm of fresh snowfall is anticipated by Monday evening. Freshly generated trigger-sensitive snowdrift accumulations will be generated. They will be deposited atop an unfavorable old snowpack surface or atop old drifts which are themselves prone to triggering. Particularly at high altitudes there are weak layers consisting of faceted crystals located near crusts deeply embedded inside the snowpack which can be prone to triggering. The snowpack shows high impact from winds and is very irregular.

Avalanche danger levels remain tense. Depending on the amount of snowfall intensity they could increase further by mid-week.