...Avalanche Awareness...

Why Worry About Avalanches?

Snow avalanches are a natural process, occurring perhaps 1,000,000 times per year, world-wide. They are one way for snow on an incline to adjust to the pull of gravity. The vast majority of these slides are not a problem, because an avalanche, in and of itself, is not a hazard. A person (or a person's stuff) has to get involved in order for there to be a problem.

What happens if you get caught in an avalanche?

So, who gets caught in avalanches?

The fact is, that avalanches don't drop from the peaks onto the heads of unsuspecting innocents with the unpredictability of a plummeting meteorite. 95% of people who are caught in avalanches are caught by a slide that was triggered by themself or a member of their party.

I think this is good news! If it is our behavior that is creating the hazard, then we can change our behavior to avoid problems.

Avalanche Characteristics

There are many different types of avalanches, but the one that worries us the most is the "slab" avalanche, in which a mass of cohesive snow releases as a unit. This type of avalanche is usually easily recognized by it's distinct crown and flanks (click for a diagram of the nomenclature associated with avalanches).

Slab and other avalanches can be hard or soft, wet or dry and can be triggered naturally or artificially.

Spotting Avalanche Hazard: The Avalanche Triangle

Some place have avalanches: Switzerland's Alps, Utah's LaSals, Nepal's Himalayas. Some places don't: South Viet Nam, the Mile-High Stadium, your living room (the distinctions are not always so obvious, unfortunately).

Why is this?

Avalanches are formed by a combination of 3 things that together are known as the "Avalanche Triangle". These 3 ingredients may be present in one location but absent 10 feet away. The 3 legs of the triangle are Snowpack, Terrain and Weather.

Detecting Instability

There are many tip-offs to the presence of a potential avalanche, including surface clues and active stability tests. You should never trust a single information source--stability evaluation is an ongoing process!

Route Selection & Self-Rescue

The easiest way to rescue yourself is to not get into trouble in the first place.

The best philosophy I can convey about how to avoid problems is the Principle of the 3 Red Flags , which states that most accidents are not the result of an unavoidable "karmic-cannonball", but rather are the predictable outcome of a series of related events. The trick to the Principle of the Three Red Flags is to recognize when these events are beginning to stack up and work against you. To do this, you must simply learn to notice the insignificant little details that are the ingredients of significant problems.

Always carry rescue equipment and know how to use it--then pretend you don't have any. Don't get caught in the trap of letting the fact that you are carrying extra gear force you into more dangerous decisions. It's sort of like driving on the freeway: we'd all be a lot kinder and gentler if the driver's seat were lashed to the front bumper instead of encased in a padded steel cocoon.

Use safe route-finding and travel techniques. And remember: if a member of your party is buried by an avalanche, their only real chance of survival is if you rescue them--don't go for help unless you're sure they're dead, because they will be by the time you get back with the cavalry.

Putting All The Pieces Together

A question we often get asked is "How do you forecast?". Here are a selection of views and differing methods to help you piece together the Avalanche Triangle which always contains you--the human--as its center piece.

Avalanche Forecasting - A Modern Synthesis by Ed La Chapelle, 1965.
Snow Avalanches: Their Characteristics, Forecasting and Control by Edward R. LaChapelle,1962.
Avalanche Hazard Evaluation Field Checklist by Doug Fesler and Jill Fredston.
How I Forecast for the Back Country by Rod Newcomb.
Safe Skiing - Stop Light Metaphor by Brad Meiklejohn.
Rules Of Thumb by Ron Perla.
Open Book Questions - to encourage reading the ABC's of Avalanche Safety, by Ed LaChapelle.

More Information

• Frequently Asked Questions about avalanches;
• Upcoming avalanche education in your area;
• Find avalanche study materials here, at the best source of avalanche publication and video reviews and on-line ordering;
• Check the avalanche glossary for explanations of bizarre avalanche terminology;
• Snow and avalanche graduate degree programs in the U.S. and Canada;
• The databases at CRREL and NSIDC reference just about all the research ever done in the field of snow and avalanches, and the Natural Disaster Database Search Engine will never route you to some dippy hockey fan's page when you search with the keyword "avalanche".
• Snow research and snow crystal links.

Other Avalanche-Related Web Sites

• Avalanche.org (West-Wide Avalanche Network) is a grab-bag of useful avalanche information, including avalanche accident statistics, links to avalanche advisories all over the western US, weather links, remote weather telemetry data, an avalanche library and much, much more.
• The Utah Avalanche Center has a new site with links to all the avalanche forecasts in the state.
• Avalanche advisories for mountains outside of Utah.
• E-zines:
  • Firstrax is a Web magazine about Colorado backcountry sports that includes snowpack information pertinent to the La Sals.
  • Couloir Magazine is a great on-line source of information useful for backcountry sports.
  • Mountain Zone is by far the slickest backcountry e-magazine. Look for numerous articles about avalanche awareness topics, avalanche fatalities of the rich and famous, and other mountaineering info.