As a consequence of the new snow and winds, snowdrift accumulations will be freshly generated. They will be deposited on west-facing,
north-facing and east-facing slopes, frequently on top of a loose, expansively metamorphosed (faceted) surface layer of snow.
Particularly on these slopes, the freshly generated snowdrift accumulations are prone to triggering. At the present time they
constitute the main danger.
At lower altitudes the snowpack layering on the northern flank of the Alps and in the western part of Lower Valais is favourable
over widespread areas. On top of or beneath the rain crust which formed at the end of December there are weak layers evident;
nonetheless these layers are not very prone to triggering.
From the central part of Valais over the northern part of Ticino as far as Grisons there are weak layers evident deeper down
inside the snowpack. However there have hardly been any avalanche triggerings reported in these deeply embedded layers of
the old snowpack for a longer period of time.