On 31.12.2019, Tirol headquarters reported an avalanche below the Gamskarspitze in the western Verwall Massif just after 1:30 pm. One person was caught by the avalanche, was swept along several hundred metres and completely buried. The person died on the scene of the accident.
On 01.01 we were on-site with the state helicopter together with Alpine police in order to examine the evidence. It was a slab avalanche, the upper zone of the release was at 2450 m altitude, on an extremely steep north-facing slope. The avalanche triggered when one person was descending on skis near the fracture break.
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| Avalanche Gamskarspitze on 31.12.2019: the arrow points to the entry track, the ellipse marks the spot of burial. The accident site is located south of the toll station of the Arlberg divided highway S16. (photo: 01.01.2020) |
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| Magenta marking: avalanche starting zone of the accident on the Gamskarspitze. The arrow points to the entry track. Blue marking in the background: an additional avalanche can be seen. This triggered naturally on 25.12 towards the end of a period of heavy precipitation. (photo: 01.01.2020) |
The slope in the starting zone is 40 degrees steep. The steepest spot is about 20 metres below the fracture, where the gradient is 43 degrees. Our snowpack analysis showed that the snowpack in the upper avalanche zone was massively wind-impacted. Inside the snowpack, hardened wind crusts dominated. Below these, we found layers of faceted crystals. What was striking: the snow in this zone was shallow.
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| Upper (steepest) part of starting zone. (photo: 01.01.2020) |
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| Snow profile, recorded orographically, left of the entry tracks at the avalanche fracture. Decisive for the avalanche were the faceted crystals beneath the wind crusts. |
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| This profile was recorded orographically right, a few metres above the fracture. Also here, wind crusts are visible, and beneath them, faceted crystals. Fractures artificially triggered by us did not break through the entire block. |
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| The layers which were separated were wind crusts. Beneath those, the snow was softer. This photo corresponds to the snow profile above. (photo: 01.01.2020) |
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| 130 metres below the fracture point, orographically right of the avalanche deposit, a similar picture. Shallow snow on a wind-exposed site. Wind crusts, beneath them faceted crystals. No complete break upon additional loading. |
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| The depth of the fracture varies from just a few centimetres to 190 cm (marking in background). The slope was skied in the foreground. (photo: 01.01.2020) |
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| Spot of burial in a narrow trench. (photo: 01.01.2020) |
What was significant for this avalanche was: Danger Pattern 7 (shallow snow next to deep snow). In wind-exposed zones where the snow is shallow, layers of expansively metamorphosed (faceted) snow crystals tended to form beneath the wind crusts from place to place to an increased extent.
