In mountainous areas, snowpack evolution, formation of weak snow layers as well as drifting and blowing snow are key factors in avalanche formation. One way to improve avalanche forecasting tools involves adequate modeling of these phenomena, including their interactions. However, this implies to investigate-the processes and to validate the models with field measurements in complex terrain. The Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) recently equipped a test site at Gaudergrat, 2300 m a.s.l., near to Weissfluhjoch. The grassy ridge of Gaudergrat runs perpendicular to the direction of. main storm events. Meteorological parameters on North and Southeast facing slopes are recorded continuously as well as 10s averages of the three wind components across the ridge during storm events. Field measurements such as detailed snow profiles including Rutschblock tests as well as areal snow depth soundings before and after storm events supplement the automatic measurements. The newly developed SLF SNOWPACK model will be used to simulate snow cover evolution. A comparison of the simulation with field data will be shown. Furthermore, one major asset of the new test site is the possibility to investigate the interactions of snow cover and drifting snow on each other. We will discuss long term evolution of snow cover using either a mean accumulation rate for that altitude or both accumulations and ablations given by snow drift estimations.