At the weekend it will be wintry in Bavaria. The meteorologists predict fresh snow.
Augsburg (dpa / lby) - In Bavaria's mountains, the winter season is gradually getting going. Skiing will start this weekend in Oberstdorf in the Allgäu, and the Bavarian avalanche warning service will start publishing its daily reports on the current danger situation. The Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) in Innsbruck on the northern edge of the Alps expects widespread fresh snow on Saturday. Light snowfall is expected in the Allgäu and the western half of the Bavarian Alps, and slightly more in the Wetterstein, Karwendel and south-eastern Bavaria. According to the German weather service, it should also snow in Franconia and other regions of Bavaria.
So far, only the small ski area below the Zugspitze has been in operation in Bavaria's mountains, which traditionally starts first due to its altitude of well over 2000 meters and closes last in spring. Now the first slopes will follow in Oberstdorf on Fellhorn, Kanzelwand and Ifen. Next weekend, the ski areas on Spitzingsee and Sudelfeld, which are popular in Upper Bavaria and Munich, also want to start operating.
There is already widespread snow in the Bavarian Alps and in Tyrol above 1100 meters, although not very much. According to the avalanche warning service, it is 20 to 50 centimeters at higher altitudes. In Upper Bavaria, the ski touring and snowshoe season has already begun in the heavily frequented Spitzingsee area. Especially in early winter, heavy fresh snowfalls are dangerous, as the snow cover only settles and stabilizes after some time.
Last season, four people died in avalanches in the Bavarian mountains, and there had been no fatal avalanches in the previous two winters.
There are many more accidents in Tyrol, where the authorities reported eleven avalanche deaths last winter. According to the absolute number of accidents, however, the slopes are more dangerous. In Tyrol, 15 people died in accidents in ski areas last season, usually in falls or collisions.
