Berchtesgaden Alps

Slab avalanche danger due to 20 cm of new snow and stormy wind

Slab avalanche danger due to 20 cm of new snow and stormy wind

Avalanche danger above the timberline is considerable, below that altitude danger is low. Main problem: fresh snowdrifts. Slab avalanches of medium size can be triggered even by minimum additional loading, i.e. the weight of one sole skier. Avalanche prone locations are found in steep terrain adjacent to ridgelines in N/E/SW aspects as well as in wind-loaded gullies and bowls also distant from ridgelines; experienced individuals can recognize them easily. Size and frequency of avalanche prone locations increase with ascending altitude. At high altitudes the old snowpack also contains intermediate layers that are prone to triggering. Where slab avalanches are triggered by large additional loading these can grow to medium size.

Stormy wind will transport old loose snow and up to 20 cm of fresh snow both adjacent to and distant from ridgelines during Monday night. Fresh snowdrift accumulations are deposited atop an inhomogeneous and wind-impacted old snowpack surface. On the sunny side, a melt-freeze crust has formed in many places near the old snowpack surface underneath which large crystals have grown. More deeply embedded in the old snowpack at high altitude are layers consisting of expansively metamorphosed snow crystals. At low and intermediate altitudes the snowpack is mostly stable.

As snowfall is forecast, avalanche danger will rise starting from Thursday.