Hochschwab Mountains

Wind-loaded north-facing slopes

Wind-loaded north-facing slopes

Avalanche canger above the treeline is moderate. Danger zones are located in ridgeline terrain and behind abrupt discontinuities in the terrain. Particular caution is urged on high altitude north-facing slopes. Fresh snowdrifts have been deposited on top of an unfavourable old snowpack surface (persistent weak layer). The drifts should not be underestimated at high altitudes! A slab release is possible even with minimum additional loading. As a rule, magnitude 2 releases are expected (but that is enough to be buried in snow masses).

There was 5-10 cm of fresh snow registere, blanketed with surface hoar, atop a weakly-layerd old snowpack surface. In the fundament there is a sequence of melt-freeze crusts and faceted crystal layers. On sunny slopes the snowpack is hardened and icy. All in all, extremely unfavourable snowpack layering.

On Tuesday clouds and fog will temporarily disperse, a bit of sunshine is expected. In the afternoon, cloud cover will move in again, shrouding the peaks in the southwest. During the afternoon, light snowfall will set in. Winds in early morning will be northwesterly, as of midday southwesterly. At 2000 m: -6 degrees; on Tuesday night, a bit more fresh snow from the southwest.

Over the next few days, variable wind directions are expected: from NW to SW. On Wednesday, more fresh snow.