Schneedecke

It starts to snow and the oracle forgets about the snow? No, not at all.

There are repeated reports of an old snow problem, but exactly what this means can be confusing. First of all, you should know that an avalanche problem (old, new, drifting, wet and sliding snow problem) is not a hazard pattern, but can consist of different hazard patterns. An avalanche problem describes the type of avalanche and its mechanisms, whereas a hazard pattern describes the responsible weak layers and their processes.

Surface frost is certainly one of the most impressive crystal forms that we can admire: Beautiful to look at, especially when it glitters and sparkles in the sunlight. However, if it is covered by snow, it turns into a highly dangerous and treacherous weak layer. As is so often the case, beauty is so close to danger.

Silke Griesser wrote her master's thesis on force measurements in compression tests (CT) and presented the results as part of the monthly ÖGSL lectures. As usual, you can watch the video of the lecture and the subsequent Q&A session on YouTube.

First rain up to high altitudes, then several days with warmer than average temperatures for the time of year, and then the long-awaited fresh snow finally fell from the sky.

From 12 to 13 December, a warm front swept in and quickly dashed the anticipation of a white Christmas. Accompanying the rise in temperature, it rained in some areas up to around 2000-2300 m, but the amount of rain was quite low. During the night from 13 to 14 December, the temperature dropped again and it cleared up. The snow surface, which had been moistened by the warmth and rain, cooled down again and a cover formed - resulting in broken slush.

Avalanche warning services, the media, numerous avalanche accidents and the first avalanche victims of the season in Salzburg have all issued impressive warnings about the current snowpack build-up over the last few days. We take a look at a current snow profile from Sölden in Ötztal.

Get ready for freerider drop. The ongoing alarm, or rather the small appendage at the moment, ensures that the forecast amounts are even exceeded. More than a meter of fresh snow has fallen on the northern slope of the Alps. Good thing Ullr doesn't have to work from home!

A recent find on the Internet: "No winter without old snow problems - that's annoying!" We take a more nuanced view of this statement and put it into perspective: How is an old snow problem defined, what exactly does it look like at the moment and are all old snow problems a big problem for us?

The ski touring season is far from over for many, but with today's flurry of snow, we snow fliers are taking a break from writing and enjoying the hopefully good conditions in April and May.

The new onset of winter, which began on 14.3.21, brought a lot of fresh snow along with huge powder turns. However, this increased the risk of avalanches again. The biggest problems here were the freshly formed drift snow and the sometimes heavy amounts of fresh snow. Drift snow can usually be easily recognized in the terrain, but this problem can also prove to be treacherous, as has been the case recently.

Last week's heavy northerly thaw is long gone, but it was still quite wintry in the northern Alps until after last weekend. In the west, the sun came through a little earlier, while in the east it was rather cloudy up to and including Monday, with snow showers falling again and again, even at low altitudes. Since yesterday, however, there has definitely been a spring feeling everywhere with lots of sunshine and significantly higher temperatures.