Avalanche Awareness Camps
More Articles Related to Survival SkillsIt is avalanche season in snow country of the northern hemisphere. And part of winter survival is avalanche knowledge.
Today I happened upon a timely article about camps that are conducted by those experienced in avalanche safety and survival. These camps can teach you how to recognize areas that prone to avalanches and read the warning signs before it is too late.
The English online newspaper Telegraph.co.uk has an article about avalanches titled "Deadly Secrets of the snow". James Bedding goes to an avalanche awareness camp in Austria where he learns how to recognize potential avalanche warning signs.
For example, a given depth of snow often has a number of layers within it. If there is a layer of snow that has hardened due to melting and refreezing, known as a melt-freeze crust, the layers on top could suddenly slide off in a large mass, creating a dangerous avalanche. Another good piece of information contained in the article is that the large majority of avalanches occur on slopes that are steeper than 35 degrees.
If caught in an avalanche you typically have only a 50-50 chance of surviving. Of course these chilling odds depend upon a variety of factors including your depth of burial and the time it takes for rescuers to find and dig you out. Survival Topics has a chart from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center showing one study on your chances of surviving an avalanche depending upon the depth you are buried or the time it takes for rescue.
According to Deadly Secrets of the Snow, each year there are over one hundred avalanche deaths in the Alps and many of these deaths occur because people were uninformed and poorly prepared.
Avalanche Transceivers Save Lives
In one study it took rescuers an average of twenty minutes to find avalanche victims that were carrying avalanche transceivers, also known as avalanche beacons. Those avalanche victims who did not carry avalanche transceivers were located on an average of almost three hours. Needless to say most of the latter avalanche victims were pulled out dead.
You are welcome to share this Survival Topic with others. I only request that you use a short blurb (not the entire survival content) and this code to
link to the origional:
