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I read on Blog Crystal that The Avalanche Danger Scale is being revised for next winter, in order to help prevent avalanche tragedy’s. If you spend time in avalanche country, please click here and take this 10 minute survey.
Since this is an important endeavour, I thought I would share the information. (Prizes are promised to the people who complete the survey)
So... what do you think? Please leave me a comment.
the survey seems to be closed
:-o So it is!
Hopefully other people are not like me. I go with a guide and forget to check the avalanche situation on the internet. I always try to analyze as much as possible when out there though. I probably have over a hundred of hours of avi training and some certification.
Perry - What would that include? isn’t the most problematic part of avalanches the fact that you can’t really tell when they are coming ?
There are 2 significant weather patterns in the Tahoe area that seem to affect the avalanche danger. The east slope is colder and has that hollowing/crumbling of the base type avalanches. Avalanche warning services should be much more important in those situations. The western part of Tahoe is wetter/warmer. These seem to be more storm activated avalanches.
Since I usually don’t do the drier/colder east slope area I look for slope orientation (angle in relation to the sun). Any slope over about 25 degrees can be an issue. What was the surface of the slope before the storm and wind loading. Looking for various traps such as ravines, concaves, wind loading, rock outcrops and trees that can fracture a pack and cause it to slide down.
Then there is the obvious, old avalanches. This place is littered with prior avalanches. The absence of older trees can be an indicator of prior years events. Debris left from previous activity. Look for the crown (beginning) of older avalanches for clues.