Slope Cuts:
For years, ski patrollers and helicopter ski guides have used
what they call "ski cuts" as an effective technique
to reduce the odds of getting caught. We like to call them "slope
cuts" instead because snowboarders and snowmobilers can
do them as well. The idea is that if you trigger an avalanche
you want to do it on your terms. That is, you want to do it
with your speed built up and heading for an island of safety
so that, in theory, if the slope does fracture, your momentum
will carry you off of the moving slab.
Remember that slope cuts are only a defensive technique to help
increase your odds. If you plan to dive into a slope anyway,
it’s one of the most important members of the safe-travel
ritual which can save your life.
Skiers Technique:
Beginning at the top of a slope, cross the slope rapidly at
about a 45 degree angle, aiming at an island of safety such
as trees, rocks, high ground at the edge of the avalanche path
or a gentler part of the slope. The first person down should
do several slope cuts as they descend the top part of the slope.
Snowboarders Technique:
Boarders can use a technique similar to skiers above, but may
need to "porpoise" (jump up and down aggressively)
the board while traversing in order to apply sufficient load
to evaluate the slope. Another method is to traverse, slash
hard and retreat to an island of safety. It
is important to always travel from one island of safety to another
when slope cutting.
Snowmobile technique:
Unlike skiers and boarders, snowmobilers have the ability to
do slope cuts from the bottom. Instead of doing your first high-mark
up the middle of slope, either do a high mark off to the side,
or a swooping, traversing high-mark low on the slope where you
can get off the slope in a hurry if it does break. Also, when
high-marking slopes, go up the center and turn toward the outside
so that you have the maximum chance of escaping to the side
of a slide if you do trigger it. Don’t forget to jump
on smaller test slopes (small slopes that won’t kill you)
as well to see how they respond. If you fracture the slope while
going uphill and you can't get off to the side, just grab some
throttle and keep heading up in hopes that most of the snow
will pass beneath you. If you fracture the slope on the way
down and can't get off to the side, your only choice is to try
and outrun the avalanche, which might work for small avalanches
but probably not for the big, ones.
Slope Cut Caveats
• Although slope cuts
work fairly well for soft, shallow slabs slope cuts are much
more tricky for hard or deep slabs because they tend to bridge
your weight over a wider area and it's much more difficult for
a person to trigger the buried weak layer. Although hard or
deep slabs are difficult to trigger, once triggered, they tend
to be much larger than soft slabs, they tend to break up above
you. Plus, they're difficult to escape because you must negotiate
large, hard blocks. But still, as a defensive technique, slope
cuts on hard or deep slabs are better than nothing.
• Slope cuts are not your first few turns or passes on
a slope. They are done deliberately to test a slope, and should
always be executed under the assumption that you will trigger
a slide. If you don’t feel comfortable with the consequences
of the slope releasing, don’t do a slope cut! Don't get
cocky just because you've successfully cut a few avalanches
and escaped. Slope cuts are not a guarantee, they're just one
more tool in your bag of tricks.
• Keep your
speed up. Slope cuts depend on momentum to take you off the
slab. Don't get bogged down at the top of a high mark and on
skis or snowboard, don't poke along like a cow. Make like an
antelope.
• Use a belay rope. Most serious avalanche professionals
carry and use a belay rope, perhaps a lightweight piece of 7
mm x 30 meter rope. The extra pound can prevent countless gray
hairs. You can use a belay rope for digging a snowpit on a suspect
slope, rappelling past obstacles, slope cutting, kicking or
sawing cornices, waiting for an explosive to go off when standing
in an insecure spot or doing a rescue. Ropes are good. Carry
one.
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