The snowpack structuring on the northern flank of the Alps is favourable over widespread areas. Stability tests (rutschblock
and ECT's) broke particularly at medium or high loading in a weak layer on or beneath the rain crust which formed at the end
of December. From the central Valais over the northern Ticino as far as Grisons, there are weak layers deeper down inside
the snowpack. In these layers, individual stability tests broke. Nevertheless, hardly any further avalanche triggerings have
been registered in the deep old snow for a longer period of time.
At high altitudes, loose old snow will be transported as a result of the northwesterly winds, and snowdrift accumulations
will generate from place to place. These accumulations are located in gullies and bowls more than anywhere else and are generally
small sized.