Avalanches claim more lives

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Started by Admin in Avalanche Safety 22-Dec-2008 - 6 Replies

Admin posted Dec-2008

In addition to the incident in Chandolin, reported by Ise, Pistehors are reporting the death of a mountain guide in the Pyrenees yesterday.

On Snowheads, steilhang notes 3 fatalities from four avalanches...

Three deaths in Austria today in separate incidents. One in Damüls, one in Kleinwalsertal and one which happened yetsreday in Tirol. In the incident in Tirol the rescue teams were only able to get to the victim today!

In the incident in Damüls a 22 year old snowboarder skied into a slope that was closed for avalanche danger. His group had already skied the slope twice, but on the third run the slab released and buried one of them. None of them was wearing a transceiver!

In the incident in Kleinwalsertal a 41 year old skier skied into a popular powder run and released a slab. The avalanche situation was so extreme that the rescue services had to dynamite the slope before attempting to search for the victim! He was found after having been buried for three hours.

Lech had a lucky escape when an avalanche went down over the piste in the Mohnenfluh area, covering the piste over a length of 120 meters. Pure luck that nobody was buried!

Be careful out there! Warm temperatures over the next few days may well increase instability off piste, so take note of local warnings and don't ski closed slopes - they're closed for good reason.

The Admin Man

Tony_H
reply to 'Avalanches claim more lives' posted Dec-2008

What do you mean by "warm" temps?

Admin
reply to 'Avalanches claim more lives' posted Dec-2008

Tony_H wrote:What do you mean by "warm" temps?

Above freezing... 8) ...quite a few areas (mostly West and South Alps) are having a mild couple of days before Xmas (when it gets cold).

The Admin Man

Ise
reply to 'Avalanches claim more lives' posted Dec-2008

Admin wrote:
Be careful out there! Warm temperatures over the next few days may well increase instability off piste, so take note of local warnings and don't ski closed slopes - they're closed for good reason.

Conditions are actually stabilising, the temperature spike isn't helpful but generally risk is a lot lower than a few weeks ago. It's probably a problem with the influx of holidaymakers without sufficient skills, not properly equipped for the slopes they're attempting and ill-informed about the risk.

RossF
reply to 'Avalanches claim more lives' posted Dec-2008

I was under the impression warmer temps increased stability, allowing the layers to "fuse".. or at least speed up the process.

Bandit
reply to 'Avalanches claim more lives' posted Dec-2008

RossF wrote:I was under the impression warmer temps increased stability, allowing the layers to "fuse".. or at least speed up the process.

Yes, that's correct. In this instance, add in, very low temps for a few weeks before, a very dry snowpack which has not bonded, and a swift rise in temperatures (the spike) and the result is plenty of instability. Normally, a gentle rise in temps, cause a bit of percolation in the layers, and they then "fuse" (I think). )

Ise
reply to 'Avalanches claim more lives' posted Dec-2008

RossF wrote:I was under the impression warmer temps increased stability, allowing the layers to "fuse".. or at least speed up the process.

that's true, it depends on the layers already present though, generally it (positive temperatures) will stabilise powder snow but destabilise already saturated layers.

Topic last updated on 23-December-2008 at 14:13