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Avalanche danger forecast for
Saturday 1/12/2019


 

AVALANCHE DANGER   Small windloads along the NW alpine divide
Saturday 1/12/2019
  

2200-3300 m

   

The danger is 2-moderate on the north-west borders of the region, 1-low elsewhere.
The main avalanche problem, even if limited, is the wind-drifted snow.

Currently the greatest danger is the slipping or falling on old and hard smooth crusts, spread at all odds.

Artificial triggered avalanches
Recent small loads
, from 20 to 40 cm thick, between 2200 and 3300 m, above all to leeward aspects. They are clearly visible and widespread mainly close to the border ridges with France and Switzerland.The bonding between these slabs and the old snow seems to be good, however, on the very steep slopes, the passage of a skier could release a slab generally small sized, especially if it lay on an old smooth and hard surfaces enough wide.

Natural avalanches
Little avalanche activity. Above 2500 m, especially in the north and west sectors of the region, loose snow sluffs from the extreme slopes and small slab avalanches from the very steep leeward slopes are possible.


AVALANCHE DANGER TREND  Sunday 13:    Monday 14:  

Rising along the north and west boundaries due to snowfall and the very strong wind forecast for Sunday.


GENERAL CONDITION
updated to 1/11/2019
 

Recent snow
On Wednesday morning, the perturbation has generally brought a few cm of snow above 1500 m, the only significant peaks were in the areas of La Thuile, Val Veny and Gran San Bernardo, where in the zones strictly bordering with France and Switzerland 20-30 cm of new snow were recorded above 2500 m, but in a very localized and irregular pattern. The weak snowfall was accompanied by strong northern winds that mostly swept away the new snow along ridges and bumps and formed few accumulations especially in the hollows.

Snowpack
The snow has no internal tensions and has good stability. It is formed on the surface by more or less thick wind crusts or refreezing crusts, covering the oldest part of the mantle made up of weak layers formed by faceted crystals. It is very difficult to cause it to break, either because these are deep, or because the crusts are very thick and hard. Locally, wind erosion brought the faceted crystals near the surface.

Snow cover
Snow is absent in the bottom valley and poor in the middle mountain.
Good snowcover above 2200-2400 m, but the snowpack has been heavily worked by the wind, with eroded areas where they are most exposed to the wind.

Natural avalanches in the last 24 hours
No avalanche reported in the last 24 hours.

Skiing conditions: bad to good, frequently variable in few meters.
It is possible to wear the skis above 1800-2300 m, better to choose skitours with roads that lead at higher altitude.
Above these levels we ski on dry and cold powder snow, or on very hard wind crusts, while at lower altitudes there are refrozen crusts, hard and irregular. Useful crampons or rampant for the hardest areas.
There are many sastrugi, mainly at high altitude.

Weather forecast

SNOW AND WEATHER CONDITIONS OF THE 7 LAST DAYS  
Monte Bianco Gran San Bernardo Gran Paradiso Monte Rosa

EUROPEAN AVALANCHE DANGER SCALE Rising avalanche danger during the day
 
5
VERY HIGH
 
4
HIGH
 
3
CONSIDERABLE
 
2
MODERATE
 
1
LOW

TYPICAL AVALANCHE PROBLEMS   CRITICAL LOCATIONS
NEW SNOW
WIND-DRIFTED SNOW
PERSISTENT WEAK
LAYERS
WET SNOW
GLIDING SNOW
IN BLACK: THE MORE CRITICAL ASPECTS AND ELEVATIONS
Snow and avalanche bulletin n° 45 issued on 1/11/2019 at 00:00 p.m.
Valid outside the ski runs controlled and managed by the ski resorts.
For an accurate interpretation of the Bulletin, go here