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Due to highly unfavourable conditions and high avalanche danger, the authorities of the Tatra National Park decided on Saturday to close the entire area of the Tatra Mountains to hiking and skiing until further notice. The closure of the trails was requested by the Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue (TOPR).
Avalanche danger level four is in effect in the Tatra Mountains. There is a high danger of spontaneous avalanches. According to TOPR rescuers, further snowfall combined with strong winds has further aggravated the avalanche situation.
“Today, three avalanches came down from Marchwiczna Pass. The first, a dust one, fell on the ice of Morskie Oko lake, the second broke the surface of the lake, and the third broke the ice even more. Descent steps completely covered, the snow layer under the moraine reaches 7 meters. In addition, an avalanche came down from the Bialy Zleb area, which cut the way to Morskie Oko. Another one probably came down closer to the entrance to Swistowka – you can see broken trees, it also reached the road! In Morskie Oko only fell half a meter of snow since yesterday. Appeal to people, let them sit at home if they value their lives,”
forester Grzegorz Bryniarski informed.
“There are extremely difficult conditions in the Tatras. All trails are covered with a thick layer of snow, there are deep snowdrifts, and snow cornices on the ridges. An additional difficulty is the heavy snowfall, which, combined with strong winds, significantly reduces visibility,”
one can read on the Tatra National Park (TPN) website.
“The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely, even from low additional loads, on many steep slopes. In some cases, numerous large and often very large natural avalanches can be expected,”
TOPR informs on its website.
