How to stay away from the avalanche This high mountain "landmine"

For climbers, avalanches are the disaster they are most unwilling to face.

This kind of snow mountain killer called "white horror"

How dangerous is it?

No one feels more direct than the avalanche survivors feel.


"The scene in the camera lens made me cry no tears, and there was a white day between the heavens and the earth, with broken yellow tent cloths and scattered colorful clothes, shoes and various items. A few minutes ago, there was still an endless village of tents. In an instant, it has been razed to the ground. Looking around, the goal is a flat ground. The people who survived were extremely mischievous and all were blindfolded." - From The Diary of The Peak (Han Zijun)


This is the text written by Shanyou Han Zijun after experiencing the avalanche at the Everest Base Camp in 2015. At that time, a huge avalanche triggered by the Nepal 8.1 earthquake caused 19 people to die. She was also washed out by a huge avalanche and caused it to be about two to three meters away. Both body fractures and head injuries.


In the past, we all experienced the power of avalanches through film and television works. The description of the avalanche by this witness made us feel the fierceness and ruthlessness of the avalanche more realistically. In the face of snow-covered peaks, many people will involuntarily fear avalanches. In fact, an avalanche is only a natural phenomenon in the mountains. Avalanches caused by natural causes such as the Everest Avalanche are not common. The actual cause of the avalanche is an avalanche of man-made causes. The avalanche expert Bruce Tribble pointed out that there are approximately 85% of the victims were killed by an avalanche that they triggered.


This data tells us that if a climber has enough knowledge of the characteristics and risks of avalanche before the trip and knows how to discern the avalanche terrain, he can avoid triggering it and keep him away from the risk of avalanche.

The climber chose a campsite away from the slopes and successfully avoided a disaster.


Awareness of avalanches


To understand what is an avalanche before we can talk about how to properly prevent and respond to it.


What is an avalanche

When the cohesive force inside a snow covered slope cannot resist the gravity pull it receives, it slides downwards, causing a large number of snow bodies to collapse. People call this natural phenomenon an avalanche. In some places, it is called "Snowfall", "Snowflow" or "Mountain Snow." At the same time, it can also cause terrible natural phenomena such as landslides, landslides and mudslides. Therefore, avalanches have been listed as a serious natural disaster in snow-capped mountains.


Major avalanche type

s slab avalanches

Lo loose snow avalanches

Ice Ice avalanches

We wet avalanches


Five unstable features of the snow layer

å¼± The depth of weak snow is greater than 1 meter

å¼± The thickness of the weak snow layer is greater than 10 cm

硬度 The difference in hardness between adjacent snow layers is greater than 1

雪 Snow particles in the weak snow layer are persistent snow particles (SN, DH, FC)

✲ The snow particle diameter difference of adjacent snow layer is more than 1mm


Causes of avalanches

Human Factors

Human activities are the most common cause of avalanches. Most avalanches are caused by the victims themselves. Skiers or climbers apply pressure to the snow during the journey, which often causes the snow to collapse, causing an artificial avalanche. Whether newcomers who are ignorant of avalanche knowledge or veteran fans who have experienced but overestimated their abilities, may trigger an avalanche because of lack of awareness or inadequate preparation.


natural factors

The rain or the increase in temperature after the snow has greatly increased the probability of an avalanche. The melting of the snow will make the cliff more smooth, thus increasing the risk of avalanches. Heavy snowfall at low temperatures may also trigger an avalanche because the snow layer has not yet had a firm hold.


The snow will accumulate enough amount to collapse. In addition, the timing of snowfall also has an important impact on the formation of avalanches. Generally, the first snowstorm is more difficult to cause an avalanche because the friction between snow and rocks is greater, but if the weather is hot and cold, it will be snow. The formation of a fragile layer of hard snow on the surface, after which the snowfall will cover the hard snow layer, the friction is much smaller, when the amount of snow is too large, or artificial climbing, skiing, percussion and even larger sounds have May cause an avalanche.


In addition, earthquakes, snow plagues, the collapse of ice towers, and other internal and external forces exerted on snow can all lead to avalanches, and the time and place are difficult to predict.


How to prevent avalanches and reduce risk

To avoid personal injury caused by avalanche, it is important to prevent problems. By judging the topography and snowfall, it is possible that areas in the route where an avalanche is likely to occur will need to be carefully walked, avoided if you can avoid it, and choose the right time to avoid it.


Avoid dangerous terrain and choose safe routes

To assess the danger of avalanches, we must first learn to identify avalanche terrain.


Snow slope angle is the simplest and most direct method for judging avalanche

â–¼

● Dangerous slope: 30 -50°, especially 35 -45°

● The most dangerous angle: 38°

Source: "STAYING ALIVE in avalanche terrain" second edition Bruce Tremper, THE MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS, 2008. 68


Other dangerous terrains include:


✲ Snow-covered convex slopes, where the snow blocks are subject to greater pressure and are prone to landslides. Therefore, do not set up camps on the slopes of the leeward slopes. The concaves are relatively safe.

å¹³ Flat, open, and moderately sloped slopes are highly likely to cause avalanches.

èµ° Walk along the edge of the slope or the gentlest slope that can reach your destination, where avalanches are less likely to occur.

✲ Travel from the windward slope without taking leeward slopes because the leeward slopes generally have heavy snowfall and are extremely unstable. The windward slope is relatively stable.

✲ In winter, be wary of sun-dappled slopes; in the spring, be careful to warm the slopes of Doyang.

多 Pay attention to the end of the slopes and deep trenches, especially at the end where the cliffs must be avoided.

✲ Do not camp in the valley because you may be on an avalanche path.

斜 Rough surface slopes and dense forest slopes may be the safest.

斜 Slopes with smooth, steep, large rocks are prone to avalanches, and snowfall, falling rocks, or dripping ice can be a trigger for avalanches.

檐 A snow slug that hangs on the top of a leeward slope may break or fall off when it encounters a strong wind, sometimes causing an avalanche.


Prepare for a good job

✲ Check weather and avalanche forecasts before travelling to find out about the local climate. Many mountainous regions have an avalanche forecasting center that you can call or check online.

了解 Get to know people who are familiar with the hiking route, including local guides, patrols, etc.

✲ All the information collected before the trip is used as the basis for judgment, and adjustments are made at any time for already established climbing routes and plans.

确保 Make sure that each player has strong snow-driving skills and avalanche assessment capabilities.

✲ Ensure that the entire team has sufficient physical and equipment reserves, and plan for the worst, carrying crampons, snow shovels, tiltmeters, avalanche detectors, detectors, first-aid kits and other necessary equipment.


Keep vigilant on the way

The situation of the snow is changing at any time. We must also pay attention to the changes in the weather while we are on the road. A lot of rainfall and snow, wind or temperature changes may cause changes in the snow. For example, an hourly snowfall is more than 2.5 centimeters, a day's snowfall is higher than 30 centimeters, or snowfall may cause an avalanche if snowfall is faster. Therefore, we only have to be vigilant and fully prepared and continuously evaluate the surrounding environment so as to ensure our safety in the snow mountain climbing.


✲ Pay attention to the law of avalanche, estimate where the avalanche starts, its direction, duration, etc. Accumulating these experiences can help you deal with other possible avalanches.

ä»” Carefully select the best route when passing through the snow, excavate with crutches or hailstones, and see if the snow layer is strong.

制造 Make noise by throwing stones, etc. to see if it will inspire the snowballs to fall off, and at this time you must ensure good protection.

Don't always be on a ridge or high ground above where an avalanche might occur.

应 During the climbing process, you should continue to understand the overall situation of the team and the physical condition of teammates. Because after a certain period of time, players may fall because of fatigue.

✲ Do not climb immediately after a heavy snowfall. You can wait for 2 to 3 days before the snow layer stabilizes. That is to say, the old climbers often say that “three days after the snow does not march”.

✲ You can choose to pass through the dangerous area in the morning, and after a night of freezing, the morning is the most stable time for the snow layer.


Avalanche, how to survive

The basic principle of avalanche rescue is that time is life. Whether the person in danger can be rescued successfully depends on whether it can be found quickly.

● Rescued within 15 minutes and the survival rate was 93%.

● At 35 minutes, the survival rate was 27%.

Note: Completely buried by avalanche and completely in contact with snow. Does not include deaths from death caused by trauma.


Correct use of avalanche search instruments will increase survival probability

In the ski mountaineering, the avalanche three-piece is the rescue equipment that we must carry with us:

1. Avalanche search and rescue device

2. Avalanche probe

3. Snow shovel

Avalanche three-piece, pictures from the network.


In addition, there are some devices that can increase your chances of survival in the event of an avalanche, such as avalanche radios, avalanche bags, snow lungs, avalanche balls, etc.

Avalanche airbags, photos from the Internet.


Other escape techniques

✲ The speed of an avalanche is so fast that you have no time to think and react. Therefore, when you are traveling, you must always pay attention to the escape route.

快速 Run quickly to avoid an avalanche. Do not run downhill, the speed of avalanche can reach 200 kilometers per hour, running down may be buried in ice and snow.

✲ In the event of an avalanche, it is important to keep the idea of ​​survival. I believe your partner is starting to rescue you.

✲ Try to get out of the moving snow and ask your teammates for help.

丢 Drop sticks, skis or other burdens, but do not lose your survival equipment.

✲ Try to grab a rock or hold a tree, or put your ice axes or ski poles into the snow.

å°½ Try to stop yourself before being washed away. If you can't stop it, use your swimming action to keep yourself from sinking on the ground.

努力 Try to move your arms, legs, or gestures and try to move to the edge of snowfall.

✲ If your head is buried in snow, close your mouth to prevent it from being suffocated by snow.

✲ If your entire body is buried, try to put your elbows or palms in front of you and provide yourself with a space for breathing.

✲ When you are surrounded by snowballs and cannot move, do not yell or shout physically. You should save your strength and wait for help.

✲ When you feel that the speed of the avalanche is slowing down, rush out and try to push one hand out of the snow so that the search and rescue personnel can find you.


The harm of avalanches is devastating.

Once an avalanche is encountered,

Whether survival depends on a certain degree

Do you have the ability to deal with avalanche correctly?

Of course, the most effective way is to avoid encountering an avalanche.

Learn about the characteristics of avalanches and avoid avalanche terrain

Most avalanche accidents can be avoided.

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