 Poster: A snowHead
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Article in German
http://oesterreich.orf.at/stories/421624/
Salient points
15 avalanche deaths in Austria already this year
12 of which occurred in Feb
Average no of Austrian avalanche deaths per year = 26
Last season avalanche deaths = 32
Deaths included ....
Age / Details
62 ski instructor in St Anton
53 Skihut owner
27, 40, 56 & 50 Skitourers
22, 25 & 28 Snowboarders
On one day six people died within Austrian in an avalanche.
Be careful out there.
In Italy a fine (up to 5000€) for causing an avalanche or undertaking a dangerous excursion in avalanche territory is being discussed.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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RIP.
I left St Anton Sat 30 Jan evening and it looked like conditions were prime for avy danger in the following days...sad to hear that a ski instructor died on 2 Feb.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Quote: |
| In Italy a fine (up to 5000€) for causing an avalanche or undertaking a dangerous excursion in avalanche territory is being discussed. |
I've seen hefty fines (and jail?) already mentioned on the lift queue\piste map signs in Monta Rosa region, which I guess would follow for the rest of the Aosta region.
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Liveezy, you might want to reflect on your signature.
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Liveezy, Don't you think the first word of your post is perhaps a little inappropriate 
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Any idea what the distribution of incidents/deaths is normally like across the course of a season? I'm just thinking that a fair few resorts open in November (or earlier), in which case they might already be over half-way through the season...which would suggest the fatalities this year aren't exceptional.
I'd also guess that more avalanches occur towards the end of the season than the start (as things start to melt), but I'm not totally sure about that?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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alex_heney, sarcasm is not easy to convey through text. There is no such thing as too much snow, you just have to wait for a stable snow pack. I dont know the circumstances of the deaths but i'm sure some could have been avoided.
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For those interested there is a lot of very good ava related info on Pistehors.com. I think they have logged every ava related death since 2002. People would also be advised to be conscious of crevasse related danger on glaciers. As Liveezy alluded to, with the right preparation, knowledge, equipment & skills many if not most ava accidents can be avoided and/or recovered from. So be informed and stay safe.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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DB,  a timely reminder, there have been a lot of slides around here recently, including the guy in Evolene dug out alive after a heck of a long time.
Reviewing some of the press about the early season avalanche deaths davidof wrote
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| The poor weather during the Christmas period certainly reduced the number of ski tourers and off piste skiers in the mountains. A few sunny days could have seen a big increase in the figures. |
Sadly it seems that recent snowpack conditions combined with the weather have made this come to fruition. Quote from http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0977-avalanche-of-hyperbole-buries-euroskiers/ well worth a read.
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You know it makes sense.
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one of the guys who worked where we were on holiday have not long come back from some sort of avalanche course. He told us that the vast majority of all avalanche deaths occurred in Category 2 or 3 risk areas.
Wasnt the instructor caught on piste by an avalanche triggered above him by some boarders?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Quote: |
majority of all avalanche deaths occurred in Category 2 or 3 risk areas.
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Very true.
People really take 4 (high) seriously 3 is considerable (ie quite a risk) but it tends to be treated as moderate (which is 2).
Although it is a scale of 1 to 5, 5 is classed as very high and may only occur a few days per year.
Of course the level will be at 2 or 3 for most of the season so statistically this favours the number of accidents occuring at those levels.
Some slopes are more dangerous than others, at lower risk levels there are less areas where it is likely an avalanche will be trigered but certain slopes still need to be evaluated wrt to whether or how to ski them at these levels.
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Poster: A snowHead
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97% of slides occur on slopes over 30 degrees. (and a huge percentage of this on slopes between 35-37 degrees)
So on days with a warning of 3 or more, stay off slopes (or parts of slopes) with a gradient of 30 degrees or more.
KISS and ski safely!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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horgand, add to that the fact that at warning level 3 the biggest danger ( in the European Alps ) is in north facing gullys where the wind has caused accumulations of snow... Avoid those and the chances are that you're OK.
Maybe!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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DB,
I never knew that GPS could do that!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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After three days seraching the body of a young (24 year old) Frenchman near Innsbruck has been found. The avalanche was so fierce that it ripped his Airbag rucksack and Transciever from his body.
Recently a man in Öbertauern was saved after activating his airbag rucksack in an avalanche.
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The Austrian Ski Guide was fully equipped & had 40 yrs experience.
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I've been wondering about this one for a while, so maybe someone here can help explain this. Why do we have an avalanche warning system that operates on a scale of 1 to 5, but only 3 different warning flags? yellow (1-2), yellow & black (3-4), and black (5)? Why not 5 different flags? I would have thought distinguishing between 3 and 4 would be particularly useful, since category 3 is so common and a shift to 4 goes unnoticed under the present system.
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FAQ
