Západné Tatry

Watch out for wind-slabs above the tree line.

Watch out for wind-slabs above the tree line.

The main avalanche problem at high altitudes is wind-blown snow deposited on the leeward sides under glass walls and in narrow couloirs. Especially in these places there are snow slabs and pillows that are deposited on very hard ground. The two layers are very poorly interconnected. Loosening is possible with just a small additional pull. Small to medium-sized slab avalanches are a particular risk, especially when moving in exposed terrain (terrain traps). At lower and middle altitudes and in places lacking newer snow, the snow cover is hard to icy after previous temperature changes.

The snow cover is frozen and stabilized due to the previous significant temperature change. Up to 10 cm of new powder snow has fallen on such a hard base, but this is very unevenly distributed due to the strong north-westerly wind. The mountain ridges are blown into a hard to icy base. Up to 10 cm of new powder snow has fallen in the mid-altitudes and above the forest belt, which is not bound to the subsoil. The snow cover is well below average at altitudes up to 1200 m above sea level. The most snow in the Slovak mountains is in the Western Tatras above the forest zone.

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