Already this week, it is the Easter holiday in parts of Sweden. And for those who are going to ski in the Norrlandsfjällen, it is important to keep an extra eye on the avalanche forecasts. -The avalanche scale is not enough to describe scenarios five steps is not enough to describe reality. There is an avalanche danger right now, but not everywhere, says the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s avalanche expert Mattias Tarestad. Right now there is a significant avalanche risk in the Riksgränsen/Abisko and Kebenekaise mountains. It is especially dangerous if you are on the steep slopes, but not otherwise. It is dangerous for skiers and snowmobilers who move in an avalanche-dangerous area. – What’s a bit tricky is that it’s just when you as a good skier start to think it’s going to be fun, it’s probably on an avalanche-dangerous slope. Then it’s important to keep track because the conditions change very often, says Tarestad. “Risk of deteriorating conditions during the week” – You decide what risk you are prepared to take, but you should stay informed. If you only want to go easy skiing in a pisted area, you just have to go out on the slopes, but otherwise the key is to make sure you prepare. Significant avalanche danger can also mean different things, but right now it is difficult to assess so you need to take it carefully even if you consider yourself very experienced. There are weak layers below with harder snow on top, which means that the situation will rather get worse during the week, especially if there is more wind. “Driven snowflakes that are so sensitive that they can be triggered at a distance from flatter terrain make it wise to keep a good distance from steep slopes. Deeper buried weaknesses mean avalanches can be large and virtually unsurvivable.” Watch the full feature in the player above:
t4-general
Avalanche risk in the northern mountains: “Check the forecasts daily”
