Show Tips to avoid or survive an avalanche James JamesO O Special of the ofU fU Chronicle What do you do when caught in an avalanche Try swimming and kicking while its it's burying you and try to make some air holes right holes right I guess you can try that said Walt Haas winter sports director for the Wasatch Mountain Club What do you do when caught in an avalanche is sort of like asking What do you do when you fall off offa a cliff Well theres there's not a heck of a lot you can do You may get lucky and grab graba a tree on the way down But Butin Butin Butin in general the main thing youre you're trying to do is not get in an avalanche in the first place Staying out of an avalanche is a hobby in itself It begins safely enough looking at Web sites such as www whose stated goal is to keep people on top of the Greatest Snow on onEarth onEarth onEarth Earth instead of being buried beneath it The site has snow packs current conditions advisories a yet sobering avalanche story and a good fix of education Avalanche have percentages degrees times and measurements all an rattling in their heads like a rolling bingo cage Numbers have to line up in an equation that equals a safe run and not a crunching cement bath Here are some of the figures Avalanches usually occur i on 35 to degree 45 slopes A dry slab avalanche will run nun like a guillotine on well oiled guides reaching speeds of 60 to 80 mph If you are searching for someone buried by one of these icy freight trains finding them within 15 minutes is optimal After that a persons person's chance of surviving the carbon dioxide he or she is exhaling diminishes drastically After 15 minutes 50 percent are dead Haas said The Utah Avalanche Center recommends not going for help right away because of this time restraint Search for half an hour to an hour and then go for help Also the speed of the snow falling will be beI I j a factor in creating prime avalanche conditions Haas said If it falls faster than an aninch aninch aninch i inch an hour its it's not going I to have time to bond he said aid s Avalanche junkies watch weather patterns Rapid changes in weather lead to unstable slopes The avalanche center lists the following as dangerous conditions for avalanches recent rapid loading of new or windblown snow warming melting and rain on new snow Haas mentioned another interesting phenomenon If you have snow lying on a slope that faces north and you have a cold clear night the snow will actually radiate heat he said Windblown snow will typically settle on the downwind leeward slope The wind will also create cornices or ledges The nice thing about a cornice is it acts like a pointer to the unstable snow mass Haas said Full-blown Full addicts have avalanches on the brain They hike summer trails looking for tasty slopes but also for exposed slabs s of quartzite which will help create an avalanche They itch to read snow pits s like someone who likes s to read tree rings for fun Haas describes a cornice e test in which a sized large dd d cornice is cut and tumbledown tumbled tumble d down the slope If dropping a cornice comice e the size of a car wont won't get i it t sliding your skis probably wont won't Haas said Cuttin Cutting g slopes if you do it very carefully is another way t to o test the slope Cutting slope is skiing g across it at a 45 decree ge e angle and with sufficient speed to carry you across if the pack does slip Cracks in the snow are also billboards for a deadly ride down Addicts also know to take turns making a run If your group is caught inthe in inthe inthe the avalanche there will beno be beno beno no one to dig you out of the snow In the end though what do you do if caught in an avalanche The avalanche center advises one to try escaping at edges or the crown can escape uphill or might have a ach ch chance nee of outrunning it downhill If there is no escaping Haas h has a s a few f suggestions Grab a tree If you cant can't escape on off a grabbing f the slab try have have- to doit doit do doit 1 tree But you it very quickly because avalanches quickly pick up speed If you cant can't grab a tree quickly then your best est friend suddenly turns I into to your worst enemy he said After about four seconds avalanches can easily move at 40 mph and land you can imagine what a tree feels like at 40 mph A quarter of avalanche victims die from trauma from hitting trees and rocks on the way down Swim If you cant can't escape off the slab or grab a tree then you need to swim hard Haas said A human body is about three times denser than avalanche debris and it tends to sink unless that person is swimming hard Clear an air space in front of your mouth As the avalanche finally slows down and just joust before it comes to rest try and clear an air space in front of your mouth Haas said This helps delay the buildup of carbon dioxide in the snow around your mouth which allows you to live longer under the snow Push a hand upward Visual clues allow your friends to find you faster he said You may not know which way is up but take your best guess Move b before re the nf snow snow stops After the avalanche comes to a stop the debris will instantly set up like concrete So any actions you take must occur BEFORE it comes to a stop Haas said Unless you are very near the surface or have a hand sticking up out of the snow its it's almost impossible to dig yourself out of an avalanche If youre you're a skier or especially if youre you're a the majority of fatalities avalanches should always be on your mind Avalanche classes are offered at the Us U's parks recreation and tourism department for the Spring Semester Theres old skiers Haas said Theres careless skiers but there are no old careless skiers |