Altschneeproblem

For some years now, avalanche problems have been included in the situation reports of many warning services. The Utah Avalanche Center, among others, has been in charge of this. The avalanche problems are based on an article by Roger Atkins, published as part of the International Snow Science Workshop 2004. They indicate "typical, recurring and mostly obvious" hazardous situations. The avalanche problems provide an initial, rather rough overview of possible sources of danger, while the "danger patterns" developed by the LWD Tirol focus more on the causes.

"Remote triggering from approx. 200 meters, avalanche length approx. 120 meters, height max. 1 meter, cone 250 meters, ...". This avalanche report reached the SLF avalanche warning service on 19.12.2015 at 15:15. In this joint text, Steffen Kruse from PowderGuide and Thomas Stucki from the SLF Avalanche Warning Service describe how it came about and why such reports are useful for the avalanche bulletin or the rescue services.

A look at the map of fatal avalanche accidents in the Swiss Alps over the last 20 years shows that a particularly high number of fatal accidents occurred in Valais and Graubünden (Fig. 1). What is the reason for this increase in accidents? Is touring activity higher in these areas, resulting in more avalanche accidents? Or are there other reasons for the increased risk of avalanche accidents in these regions?