Pongau Grass Mountains

Deep winter in April

Deep winter in April

Avalanche danger above the trereline is CONSIDERABLE, below that altitude danger is MODERATE. Snowdrift accumulations esp. on N/E facing slopes can be easily triggered with increasing altitude up to high alpine regions also on south-facing slopes. Most critical: on the Main Alpine Ridge where most of the snow fell and it is windiest. Slabs can be medium sized, also large. Danger zones are spottable, pending visibility, increase with ascending altitude. Also possible: isolated naturally triggered loose and slab avalanches, esp small and medium sized in extremely steep terrain. For backcountry tours in open terrain, lots of experience and good knowledge of the terrain are essential. On steep grassy slopes, esp. where the ground was bare, below 2000 m, naturally triggered glide-snow avalanches are possible, in medium size.

Over the last few days there has been about 30-60 cm of fresh snow registered. Winds were NW/W, transported the cold loose snow and deposited drifts atop unbonded fresh snow. Fresh snow and drifts are bonding only slowly. The fresh snow was often deposited on bare ground. There, on steep grassy slopes, increasing gliding masses can be expected.

On Saturday, minor snowfall, rain up to 1300 m. During the day, visibility will improve but the peaks will remain veiled in fog. Due to the season, diffuse radiation is high, the snow can become sticky up to 2000 m even without direct sunshine. In open areas at high altitude, westerly winds will be blowing at 30 to 50 km/h. At 2000 m: -4 degrees; at 3000 m: -11 degrees.

The snowpack will gradually settle, avalanche dangers will incrementally recede.