Glockner Group Pasterze

Be careful of fresh snowdrifts. Weak layers in old snow demand caution.

Be careful of fresh snowdrifts. Weak layers in old snow demand caution.

Freshly generated snowdrift accumulations are small-sized yet still often prone to triggering, particularly above 2400m along the Salzburg border. Weak layers inside the old snow can be triggered by one sole skier in all aspects, particularly in gullies, bowls and behind protruberances in the landscape along the Salzburg border. On shady slopes and in high alpine zones the likelihood of triggering is higher. Caution urged especially in seldom-skied terrain. Whumpf noises and glide-cracks when you step onto the snowpack are indicators of danger. Avalanches can reach medium size. Magnitude and frequency of danger zones tend to increase with ascending altitude.

Up to 5-10 cm of fresh snow was registered, the snowpack is expansively metamorphosed, the freshly generated snowdrift accumulations above 2400m were deposited atop an unfavorable old snowpack surface by easterly winds. The older snowdrifts blanket a weak layer particularly on shady slopes above 2400m. The snowpack is highly diverse even over small areas.

On Saturday, sunshine all day long and radiantly azure skies. Above the valley floors there will be fog and high-fog (border at 600-900m). Outstanding visibliity. Moderate, sometimes strong SE winds, windspeeds reaching 40 km/hr. At 1000m: +5 degrees; at 2000m: +2 degrees. Source: GeoSphere Austria

Gradual decrease in avalanche danger