Hochschwab Mountains

Favorable conditions for backcountry tours continue

Favorable conditions for backcountry tours continue

Low danger prevails in Styria. Isolated avalanche prone locations occur on N-facing slopes, where there is a persistent weak layer (deeply embedded). A slab avalanche triggering on extremely steep shady slopes cannot be ruled out. Avoid zones below glide cracks, due to possible gliding movement of the entire snowpack.

Along the Niedere Tauern and Northern Alps the compact old snowpack is melt-freeze encrusted and, depending on aspect, more or less capable of bearing loads. While sunny slopes have firn snow, shady slopes have hardened, often icy surfaces. Atop them in wind-protected zones is often loose powder, mostly without bonding to the old snowpack beneath. On sunny slopes the snowpack’s gliding movements are increasing. Glide cracks are red flags of this movement. South of the Mur-Mürz Rift the snowpack is also stable, snow depths are meagre. Melt-freeze and wind crusts tend to dominate.

Saturday will be splendidly sunny throughout the mountains. The air is extremely dry, thus, the visibility will be outstanding. On the southern flank of the Alps it remains quite cold, in the Northern Alps it is milder due to foehn wind influence. At 2000 m: between -6 degrees on Hochwechsel and +1 degree on the Tauplitz. Sunday: sunshine all day long, azure skies, excellent visibility, not very cold.

Little change in the current avalanche situation, the favorable conditions will continue.