Avalanche

An avalanche is a mass of snow and ice that suddenly becomes detached from the sides of a mountain. It hurtles down the mountain slope at high speed and causes a sudden movement of air - the avalanche wind - and takes along soil, rocks and all kinds of debris with it.

This phenomenon is caused by transformations within the continually evolving mountain snow cover, affected by mechanical and physical factors and meteorological conditions that play a major role: thus, this snow cover includes layers of different consistencies which are relatively stable in relation to one another. Instability of the layers, caused by milder periods and strong winds can cause avalanches.