Slab avalanche Gigglerspitze
Today on 24 March, an avalanche accident occured near the Gigglerspitze in the Samnaun Massif. It was a slab avalanche which triggered as one person was in the descent. Two persons were swept along and injured. The slope is extremely steep in places, faces W-NW. The fracture occurred just below 2500 m.
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| The accident spot was southwest of Landeck near the Gigglerspitze (turquoise dot) near the red ellipse. |
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| Slab avalanche Gigglerspitze with tracks leading into release (photo: 24.03.2021) |
Tomorrow, 25 March, we will examine the avalanche together with the Alpine Police. Tomorrow evening we will report on it in the blog. We currently assume an old-snow problem. The primary weak layer probably formed between 5 and 14 March.
Heed regional superficial old-snow problem
Our snowpack analysis currently shows this rough sequence of zones for the old-snow problem.
Shady slopes, steep, between 2000 m and 2200 m, locally up to 2400m
West and east-facing slopes, very steep, between 2200m and 2600m
South-facing slopes, extremely steep, above 2700m
The following regions are particularly involved: Verwall Massif, Silvretta, Samnaun Massif, northern Ötztal and Stubai Alps, Tux and Kitzbühel Alps. Even within these regions the avalanche prone locations are not widespread. Most often it requires large additional loading to trigger a slab avalanche there. In addition, triggerings are likeliest in places where the snow is rather shallow. Comparatively critical is an altitude band at 2000-2200 m on shady slopes.
The upper-layer old-snow problem is treacherous because the danger zones are not immediately recognizable. There has been fresh snow deposited atop the weak layer since 14 March, the uppermost surface it is often still powdery.
