The surface of the snowpack is rough in most places and snow penitents are to be found in particular on sunny slopes. The
bonding between the anticipated fresh snow and the old snowpack is therefore likely to be favourable in most places.
The snowpack is thoroughly moist on north facing slopes below approximately 1800 m, on east facing slopes below approximately
2500 m, on south facing slopes up to more than 3000 m, and on west facing slopes below approximately 2800 m. As temperatures
fall, the danger of wet snow avalanches will decrease. Individual gliding avalanches can still occur, in particular on the
northern Alpine ridge.
In the north the snow line on north facing slopes is 1000 to 1400 m; in the south it is 1800 to 2200 m. On south facing slopes
the snow line is mostly 300 to 500 m higher. In general, the quantity of snow lying on the ground is small; exceptionally
little snow is lying in the south. In view of the thin and in many cases faceted snowpack, on glaciers there remains an elevated
risk of falling into a crevasse, especially in southern Valais.