 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi There,
With all of the avalanches this year, and with my ever increasing desire to venture further off piste I am keen to learn the basics ( and more ) of avalanche safety. Can anyone recommend a suitable resource, be it DVD, Book or website.
Obviously a course in the alps would be the best option and will look to do this next year but any recommendations in the meantime are gratefully recieved.
Thanks
Mr Ted
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snow sense - a simple thin book by people who get name checked by those who write longer more complicated books...
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Mon 5-03-12 21:18; edited 1 time in total
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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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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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superb. thanks everyone
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The Avalanche Handbook is also great.
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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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The only problem with The Avalanche Handbook is that it's hardly accessible to people wanting to know the basics. It's much more a basic text for a University level course and is definetely written as such.
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meh, I'd say Bruce Trempers book is pretty detailed too. Not managed to finish it. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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meh, Yes, it's not really suitable for a first delve into the subject. Good reference once you get into the subject though, and you can pick and mix the chapters to cover aspects which you want to concentrate on. Lot of heavy reading in there.
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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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stoat of the dead, sure I agree it's something that benefits from practical experience and lessons most of all. Trempers book for me is the best compromise between information overload and getting the right information across. There is sadly a slight requirement for the former. I've not read Snow Sense but AFAIK it's also pretty well recommended.
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You know it makes sense.
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mr ted, If you are new to the subject I'd choose........
Free Skiing by Jimmy Oden. Apart from being easy to understand, it also covers off piste and high mountain skills plus it's easily the most beautiful skiing book I own. Lovely.
See: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Skiing-How-Adapt-Mountain/dp/9163313138?tag=amz07b-21
Although I own most of the other titles they are not easy reading, and often have a North American context. When I did my mountain safety training Jimmy's book was the one I lugged on an airplane for reference.
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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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| stoat of the dead wrote: |
| meh, I'd say Bruce Trempers book is pretty detailed too. Not managed to finish it. |
The Avalanche Handbook is a lot more detailed and technical than Tremper. The AH is the "bible" for avalanche pros (or so I am told by an AIARE instructor), I have a copy and find it pretty heavy going. Tremper was much more accessible. "Snow Sense" is also a good book, much shorter than Tremper, covers the main points about decision making without going in to the same level of detail on weather and snow science.
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Poster: A snowHead
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altis, +1 i think the avalanche cicerone is very simple and straightforward....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd recommend Bruce Tremper's book once again.
I actually think it is one of the less technical books, with the extra content being much more focussed on decision-making. I've read most of the books mentioned above and Tremper's one definitely comes out on top for me, especially for saying it like it is.
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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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In addition to books there are some very good resources on the web.
Take a look at the AIARE site, especially the resources page.
The Canadian site also has a lot of useful info including an online course which looks good.
The EAWS site does not have learning resources as such (I don't think it does anyway), but it's the "hub" for finding avalanche bulletins. I'd recommend you take a look at bulletins for the areas you ski, if you can get in to the habit of checking these well before you go skiing you'll get a good idea of the conditions through the season. It's a bit obsessive / sad but I get the Tirol reports by email every morning even though I have only had 2 trips out there this season.
Henry also has a lot of good stuff on his site. I think you can even attend on-line chats to learn more but I've never actually done this myself.
If you want to get really in to it there are a number of courses of varying length. I did the AIARE Level 1 in Chamonix this season with Miles and Liz Smart, run by ChamEx. I would recommend it unreservedly... and if they ever run the L2 course I'll be signing up for that too. I think there is another outfit in Chamonix also running the AIARE course, but apart form that there are no other AIARE courses in Europe. I'm sure other courses are good, but I narrowed down on the AIARE course because it in English and the course places a lot of emphasis on decision making, assessing risk, traveling safely etc rather than just focusing on the snow. Out of the whole 3 days you only spend 1 afternoon running around with probes and transceivers - don't get me wrong, learning to use the gear is critical but there is a whole lot more to the subject than companion recovery.
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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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Guys, thanks so much for the advice. Really appreciate it.
mr ted
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