Valgrisenche

The wind slabs are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack.

The wind slabs are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack.

Places where weaknesses exist in the old snowpack are especially precarious. These places are barely recognisable, even to the trained eye. The wind slabs can be released by a single winter sport participant, caution is to be exercised at transitions from a shallow to a deep snowpack. The avalanches can be released in the weakly bonded old snow and reach quite a large size, in particular on very steep northeast, north and northwest facing slopes at the base of rock walls and behind abrupt changes in the terrain. Backcountry touring calls for meticulous route selection. Whumpfing sounds and the formation of shooting cracks when stepping on the snowpack indicate the danger. Maintaining distances between individuals and one-at-a-time descents are recommended.

Wind slabs are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack especially on east to north to northwest facing aspects above approximately 2200 m. In particular at higher altitudes snow depths vary greatly, depending on the infuence of the wind. On the windward slopes, ridges, hills and crests are heavily eroded.

The wind slabs are bonding only slowly with the old snowpack.