Lower Tauern South

Not a good weekend for high-altitude tours

Not a good weekend for high-altitude tours

Avalanche danger above the treeline is CONSIDERABLE, below that altitude danger is MODERATE. Snowdrift accumjlations 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 grass 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 a half-metre of fresh snow registered, up to 80 cm at high altitudes. Winds were N/W, transported the cold loose snow and deposited drifts atop unbonded fresh snow. Fresh snow and drifts are bonding only slowly. In places there are expansively metamorphosed (faceted) layers bordering on melt-freeze crusts in the uppermost part of the snowpack; these are unlikely to trigger, but if further layers are swept away when a release occurs, the avalanches can then grow to large size. 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.