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Show 4- - Avalanche conditions demand caution from skiers Drowning in snow. That's what you may experience if you are caught in an avalanche. Maybe the ice and powder will be forced down your throat and lungs. Perhaps the snow will simply sim-ply form a solid wall against your face, giving you no room to breathe. Safety courses advise you to take action while you're being tossed about by the snow slide, Cup your hands aroundour face to form an "air pocket," or "swim" while the snow is moving to stay on top of it. "Once it stops," said one national forest field observer, "it's like concrete." Even if you could dig out with your bare hands, you don't know whether you're up or down. In such complete disorientation, you might futilely dig further down into the snow. The survival rate for victims completely buried by snow is less than 20 percent. For these unfortunates, unfor-tunates, there is the exhaustion exhaus-tion of air, unconsciousness within 45 seconds to two minutes, and death. Since last week's "dump," the threat of avalanches has increased. The Utah Avalanche Ava-lanche Forecast Center currently cur-rently assesses the danger of a slide as "extreme" on many slopes in the Utah area. One of those slopes was in Big Cottonwood Canyon, where a skier died in an avalanche last weekend. Robert Ayers, a member of the Park City Ski Team, was luckier when he was caught in a snow slide and dragged some 200 feet at the Resort last Sunday. Ayers told the Newspaper he was skiing between two chutes near Scott's Bowl when, going into his fourth turn, the snow gave way beneath him. "I was being dragged down with about four feet of snow around me," he said. "I went under it, kind of, but when I started moving my arms around, like they tell you, I came back up pretty quick." The whole accident, he thinks, lasted about 10 SkkBatrol seeks new recruits Are you a strong skier who is looking for a real challenge and a lot of responsibility? If so, you might be the person the Park City Resort is looking for to train to be a ski patrolman. "The training program is set up to develop a pool of trained patrolmen to draw from when the Resort is hiring," said Fred Marshall, whose job it will be to whip the trainees into shape. "In (he past, it used to be a friend of a friend was hired lor the patrol when we didn't have a pool to draw from. Now we hope to have fully trained people to till in with." According to Marshall, the program will offer a background in full mountain procedure, including lilt evacuation, avalanche control, con-trol, toboggan work, back-country back-country rescue, first aid, and training in cardiopulmonary rescusitation. Generally, said Marshall, about 40 people apply lor the program. To bring that number down to a manageable level, and to weed the men from the boys so to speak, the first sessions will be on the mountain. Marshall said the candidates will be skiing everything form Assessment to Jupiter Bowl so he can observe their capabilities. 'if someone has trouble skiing in Jupiter, he or she CUSTOM PARK MEADOWS HOME Li.i.i a4 """'""- - - It SaA 3 bedrooms, 2A baths, den, Jenn-Aire, greenhouse, dining room, 2 car garage, large lot, hugh master bedroom, $159,500 with $82,000 assumable at low interest. By owner 649-8375 seconds. Ayers' brother helped him down the slopes to a doctor. "I really stretched out my right leg," he said, "and I have to wear a bandage there." He also suffered two cracked bones in his shoulder shoul-der and has to wear a sling. Ski Patrol Director Bill Plummer said the Resort has a low avalanche danger. "The snow has been ski-packed," ski-packed," he said meaning that ski activity has compacted com-pacted the old layer of snow, called depth hoar, in with the new snow. (Avalanches occur oc-cur often when conditions make it easy for new snow to slide down an old layer.) Plummer said the Resort has had slides in the last few years when weather conditions condi-tions and infrequent snowfall has created the same kind of depth-hoar problem. But to counteract that, the Resort staff uses a program of "control skiing" to pack the layers together. "The resort hasn't had as many full-depth slides (the snow from surface to ground moving) as you'll find now in the back-country avalanche areas," said Plummer. "In fact, the only full-depth accidents we had this year didn't happen to customers. They happened to the control skiers, before the season even started!" The No. 1 rule for surviving surviv-ing in avalanche-prone areas, like open bowls, is stay out! But if you should find yourself there, make use of these rules: First of all, never ski alone. If you are in a group approaching a danger zone, you should cross one at a time, not together. It's wise to ski in a forested area, although that is no guarantee of safety. (Bob Ayers said the avalanche he was caught in occurred in a wooded area.) One rule says that if the forest is dense enough to make skiing annoying, then you're probably safe. (This hint comes from the USDA Forest Service's "Avalanche Handbook," to which we are indebted for much of this probably won't make it through the program," he said. "Patrolmen are expected expec-ted to ski every part of the mountain." After the first week. Marshall Mar-shall said the number of candidates usually drops down to about 10. and then the real work begins. The training takes one to two days a week starting Feb. 17 through April. At the end of the program, everyone must have their first aid certification. cer-tification. What does all that hard work get you? "For me, the rewards of the job go beyond money," Marshall said. 'it's becoming a professional skier skiing for a professional organization. You do, of course, get paid for skiing, and you do more of it than any other people on the mountain. You do a little bit of everything, and it's fascinating what goes on. 'What we're really looking for is a personality that works well with the rest of the organization, and someone who is responsibile. and who feels a pride about being professional." If that sounds like you, call Bill Plummer at 649-8111, extension ex-tension 240 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., or Fred Marshall at 649-8708 before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m. The training program pro-gram is scheduled to being Tuesdav. Feb. 17. information.) Avalanche areas have three sectors called (from top to bottom) the starting zone, the track, and the run-out zone. They are pretty much what their names suggest different parts of the avalanche path. If you cannot avoid an avalanche area even by going out . of your way, it is wise to cross it over the run-out zone. If you must go into the hazardous starting zone, enter it from the highest point possible. Plan an escape route, preferably pre-ferably one that allows you to ski off to the side of the area if a slide should start. If you're caught by a slide, many rulebooks recommend discarding your ski poles and skis, which will only drag you down. Local ski guide Gaye Erickson said many instructors also advise abandoning your pack. "But others prefer to keep the pack," she said, "so when they make it through, they'll have some food and clothing." cloth-ing." Buried skiers also are told to push their hands, at the very least, out of the snow to signal rescuers. Transceivers can be worn by skiers, and if they are trapped, the equipment can send out a signal that will be received by . rescuers. But the device is not as simple to use as it sounds, according to experienced skier Frank Erickson. "The professionals profession-als made a point of practicing practic-ing with these units," he said. "You have to use a kind of grid system to locate the person. And if you're inexperienced, in-experienced, it might take an hour to find the victim." Trained dogs are being used in. avalanche rescues-such rescues-such as the German Shepherd Shep-herd who discovered last Sunday's avalanche victim. And, of course, a well-known method is the probe line a string of 20 or 30 searchers probing foot by foot through an avalanche area. Rescuers should have shovels to dig out the victim ski tips won't do the job. Al Soucie's job isn't rescue; res-cue; it's prevention. He's a field observer of avalanche conditions for the forest 1 Z" i 1 Family Jewels' goldsmith Lew Saddleir presents a 14K gold pendant inset with garnets to Marianna Sidwell of Park City. Sidwell is the first winner in a monthly drawing for persons with birthdays during that month. The garnet is the birthstone for January; February's birth-stone birth-stone is the amethyst. If your birthday is this month, register now. 1 service in the Provo-Ameri-can Fork area. He spends about four days of his week outdoors, "glassing" the snow with binoculars, studying study-ing the wind transport, the settling in the snow, ice crystals, the layering of the snow in specially-dug pits, etc. His findings go to the avalanche forecast office, where they are boiled down into four classifications. "Low" means mostly stable snow except in isolated and steep slopes and gullies. "Moderate" says areas of unstable snow are possible on steep slopes and gullies. ' v $5.00 Entry Fee 1st Prize. ..."The Ski" 2nd Prize $50 3rd Prize $25 Men's & Women's Competition. Be There! 8:00 A contest will be held every Sunday Live Entertainment Monday through Saturday Skis donated by and skiers should use caution. cau-tion. "High" steep areas will be mostly unstable, and aren't recommended. And "extreme" says wide-spread instability on the slopes is certain. Those classifications aren't applied in whole-cloth. The forecast service's recent report said "extreme" conditions con-ditions existed on the north-facing north-facing and east-facing slopes of mountains throughout the Wasatch area. West-facing slopes were "high" and south-facing slopes were "moderate." Said Soucie, "We try to get as good a feel as we can of the conditions." V 1 Contes The Newspaper Thursday, February 5, 1981 Page 9 There are no hard and fast rules to use for avalanches. Slide conditions generally build when snow is falling at a rate of an inch or more an hour, according to Gaye Erickson. And slides most often occur, she said, in areas of 30- to 45-degree slope. But when they occur is harder to figure. The weight -AIipH5- RESTAURANT "Park City's Tinest Restaurant Open for Dinner Seven Nights a Week 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. Sunday Brunch 11:00-2:00 649 v 1 of a skier or the weight of the snow itself can start a slide, said Gaye. "They're unpredictable. I heard about a snow bank at Park West that wouldn't come down when they blasted it with dynamite. And then a skier went over it and down it came. "Anything can set a slide off." Live Entertainment Tom Distail - 7U7 "The Ski Co." Park City, Utah |