Anatomy of a Slide (Cont.)

You Are Here:

Home >> Anatomy of a Slide (Cont.)

Today's Question
How do you make primitive snowshoes? answer

What should you do if you get lost driving in a snow storm? answer

Today's Question
What is the greenest ski and snowboard on the market? answer

Can I really damage a coral reef with sunscreen while snorkeling? answer

What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries

Outside Magazine February 2000

Page:

Anatomy of a Slide (Cont.)
The Deadly Three: Know the Enemy

While no two avalanches are exactly alike, slides can be grouped into a trio of basic types. A loose snow avalanche forms when a small slough gives way and begins moving downhill, picking up snow along the way and spreading laterally across the slope in a characteristic inverted V. Though usually shallow, this type of avalanche can upset a skier's balance enough to send him tumbling toward downslope hazards such as escarpments. If the snow is wet, its colossal weight can compound the slide's lethal force.

An ice avalanche is limited to glaciated high-mountain terrain, but on its home turf it's no less deadly. A large chunk of ice—a serac, for example, or a cornice—breaks free and tumbles down a cliff, exploding in car-size blocks and a huge cloud of dust.

Because of its potential depth, force, and scale, the slab avalanche claims the most victims. In these slides, a broad area of snowpack breaks away and begins moving downhill as a cohesive mass riding over an ice sheet or bare ground. The slab is the worst hazard a skier or snowboarder is likely to encounter. If you're caught mid-slope, shed your skis and poles, swim for dear life, and pray you end up staring at blue sky when the whole thing comes to a halt.

Stayin' Alive: A truly essential packing list
Sam Davis has logged thousands of days in avalanche territory as a patroller for Utah's Snowbird ski resort. Aside from the bare minimum of a probe, shovel, snow saw, and transceiver, here's what you should own for backcountry travel:
• Snow study kit (inclinometer, snow-crystal card, brush, magnifying glass, thermometers)
• Forty meters of 8.5-millimeter climbing rope for emergency rappelling, cutting cornices, and belaying while digging a pit
• Surveyor's tape to flag the perimeter of a debris pile
• First-aid kit including a small cardboard splint
• A river rafter's whistle
• Bivy sack and half an Ensolite pad to warm a victim
• Water and energy gel
• Waterproof matches and firestarter

Page: