Chiemgau Alps East

Large slab avalanches possible in places at high altitudes

Large slab avalanches possible in places at high altitudes

Avalanche danger above the treeline is moderate, below that altitude danger is low. Main problem: snowdrifts. Avalanche prone locations occur in steep ridgeline terrain in all aspects and in wind-loaded gullies and bowls. In many places small (at high altitudes sometimes medium-sized) slab avalanches can be triggered even by minimum additional loading, e.g. the weight of one sole skier. Frequency and size of danger zones increase with ascending altitude. In addition, on shady slopes at high altitudes isolated deeply embedded layers inside the snowpack are prone to triggering. Slab avalanches can be triggered, particularly where the snow is shallow, and possibly grow to larger size.

On Thursday night, a few centimetres of fresh snow expected as temperatures drop. The fresh snow forecast for Saturday afternoon will fall amid wind influence from varying directions at high altitudes, bond poorly with the snowfall from Friday. In the old snowpack at higher altitudes there are weak intermediate layers of faceted crystals. The snow depths vary enormously, exposed terrain is irregular.

Low temperatures. The situation on Sunday is not expected to change significantly.