Snow Cracks in the Central Zone of Chile: “This is a situation that should not be overlooked”
From Avalancha Sport
One of the postcards that alarmed all lovers of the mountain were the cracks that appeared in some sectors of the central zone of Chile where users in social networks recorded this event that can cause an avalanche.
Snow Cracks in the Central Zone of Chile: “This is a situation that should not be overlooked”. Photo: Avalancha Sport.
In this context and after this situation, Avalancha Sport spoke with Diego Pizarro, Mountain Risks Specialist and Instructor of snow and avalanches of the National Association of French Snow Studies (ANENA), who said that this phenomenon is not unusual at the beginnings of the season.
“My impression is very likely that this happened because there was an intense rainfall with little wind and very low temperatures during that period,” he began.
NATURAL HAZARDS : Camping in Switzerland carries certain risks
From Swissinfo.ch
I’ve found this post on Swissinfo.ch about Switzerland, but this applies to all mountainous areas all over the world really.
It states that about one in three campsites in Switzerland located in or near a risk zone along rivers, lakes or in avalanche regions, are in danger. This was found in an in-depth analysis by the Sonntags Zeintug and Le Matin Dimanche newspapers.
Photo: SB VonLanthen. Unsplash. NATURAL HAZARDS : Camping in Switzerland carries certain risks.
There are 444 campsites across the country of which some are open all year round. People living in these zones during the winter or bad weather spells with high waters could be killed.
I have been last year trekking with my family in Courmayeur during a week when it was raining a lot every afternoon – one day we’ve been up the mountain and we made it down and to the multi-sports enclosed centre when it started raining, and the next day, we’ve heard that just up the road a bit, in Val Veny, there was a massive mudslide as the rivers got really full with lots of rain in a short period of time, and a couple had been wiped away in their car and perished. One has to respect these areas, as nature can turn very hard against one really quickly.
An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes.
A deadly avalanche occurred in the Aiguilles-rouges massif, Haute-Savoie, this Saturday, May 18, 2019. A 33-year-old skier, apparently very experienced, was found dead at 2500 meters altitude.
The Aiguille Rouges seen from Lac Blanc. An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes.
A skier of high level was killed Saturday, May 18, 2019 in the massif of Aiguilles rouges (Haute-Savoie). It was carried away, it seems, by an avalanche while it came down a corridor “rather steep”, one learned this Sunday near the platoon of gendarmerie of high mountain of Chamonix. He was climbing the North East couloir of Aiguille de Mesure (at 2812 meters) trying to descend the same way when the avalanche occurred. This skier was alone at the time of the avalanche.
The mountain rescue did a preliminary helicopter search and found an ice axe and a ski, before locating the victim, aged 33, partially under the snow 500 meters below at the foot of the needle of Praz-Torrent (2,573 m altitude).
Dangerous avalanche conditions are expected ahead of Arctic Man
From KTVA
Next week, hundreds of snowmobiles will descend upon the Hoodoo Mountains north of Paxson for the annual Arctic Man event, and avalanche forecasters want them to know that conditions are especially unpredictable this spring.
“The mountains are shedding.” warned Debra McGhan of the Alaska Avalanche Information Center. “It might be stable in the morning, but by afternoon things are letting go.”
Dangerous avalanche conditions are expected ahead of Arctic Man
On Saturday, two brothers were buried in an avalanche while riding not far from where Arctic Man takes place. No one was hurt, but it was a reminder of the dangers.
It’s a transitional year for Arctic Man, which will not be hosting its classic ski races this year. The unusual race has been held nearly every year since 1986, but interest has slowed. After 33 years, the popular Arctic Man Race of teams of two – a skier and a snowmobile, is ending. The race had the skier in each team, going down the mountain, being towed by the snowmobile uphill again and then skiing back down for a second time.
Three climbers have been killed and a fourth injured after being caught in an avalanche on Ben Nevis.
The incident happened in an area of the UK’s highest mountain called No 5 Gully shortly before midday on Tuesday. Members of the Lochaber and Glencoe mountain rescue teams were at the scene.
A coastguard helicopter sent from Inverness to assist was initially grounded in Fort William because the weather was too poor, but by late afternoon, it was able to reach the site as conditions improved, and began airlifting the injured and dead off the mountain.
Two of the climbers died at the scene and their bodies were taken to Fort William. Two other injured climbers were airlifted away; one died on Tuesday evening and the other was taken to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Glasgow.
Three killed and one injured in Ben Nevis avalanche
Two climbers have died and two have been injured in an avalanche that caught several climbers on Ben Nevis, UK highest peak.
The police said that several climbers were on the hill at the moment of the avalanche.
The alarm was raised after the incident, at 11:50. It took place in an area known as Number 5 Gully.
An air ambulance, the Inverness Coastguard helicopter, three road ambulances and a trauma team were sent to the scene.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was supported by members of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team in the rescue effort on Britain’s highest mountain.
A group of military personnel training in the area also offered assistance to the rescuers.
Two killed and two injured in Ben Nevis avalanche
Mountain rescue
On Monday, the Scottish Avalanche Information Service assessed the potential avalanche risk in Lochaber, where Ben Nevis is located, as “high”.
Police Scotland said it was co-ordinating the mountain rescue response and supporting those at the scene.
One of the people rescued from an avalanche at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana died in the hospital overnight. Three other people were injured by the huge avalanche that struck on Tuesday. Rescuers suspended a coordinated search on Wednesday morning.
The man who died was a 34-year-old French national who worked at a ski resort in France, police said.
Rescuers worked all night above the resort in canton Valais to try to find skiers who might have been trapped in the avalanche. Witnesses had told police that there could be more people under the snow.
On Tuesday, a huge avalanche swept down the mountain at an altitude of 2,500 metres, just below the Plaine-Morte Glacier, and hit the popular Kandahar ski slope at 2.20pm at a spot known as “Passage du Major”.
This video by Swiss public radio, RTS, shows the extent of the avalanche. The police said it measured over 840 metres long and 100 metres wide and spread over the slope for about 400 metres.
This first part of this video has been filmed by one of the skiers on the piste when the avalanche produced.
Avalanche kills two in the French Alps near Les 2 Alpes
From: AP – The Sun Herald and Le Dauphine –
French officials say two have died after an avalanche in the Alps near the Deux-Alpes ski resort.
St Christophe-en-Oisans. Photo: Quentin Lagache- Unsplash. Avalanche kills person in French Alps; another missing.
The police unit in charge of setting up the rescue operation and authorities in the Isere region said the avalanche struck late Tuesday morning.
The avalanche struck in on off-piste sector near the small town of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans.
Update from Le Dauphine:
14 H 05 : The accident occurred outside the landscaped area of Les Deux-Alpes, on an area on the Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans side of La Toura, downstream and south of the Grand Creux breach. (2804 m). Côté Deux-Alpes (on the northern slope), several lifts lead to this sector of off-piste skiing: the chairlifts of Toura and Lac Noir.
Many rescuers are currently working alongside Civil Safety and FAS helicopters. A dog team from the CRS Alpes, two from the resort of Les Deux Alpes and a dog team from Huez are on site. A dozen police officers from the CRS Alpes, trackers and station staff are involved in the research.
Meteo France, in its bulletin snow and avalanche, reports for Tuesday of a risk 3 (scored) on a scale of 5.
The operation of the Säntis suspension railway (Säntisbahn), from the Schwägalp to the Säntis, will be closed during the next months. The reason for this is the damage to the structure of the first ropeway support, which was affected by an avalanche.
For safety reasons, the operation of the Säntis suspension railway will be suspended until further notice. Neither guests nor employees are transported by the suspension railway. the reason for this is the damage in the lower part of the cable car support. Due to an avalanche decline in the period of Sunday, January 13 and Monday, January 14, the avalanche protection of the prop and the structural construction were affected.
It cannot be said yet how big the damage to the support and the construction is. One must, however, assume that the damage is substantial, and the repair work could take months. In the worst-case scenario, the support will even have to be completely replaced. A project team of experts is currently evaluating the damage and will plan how to proceed with the risk accessed correctly.
An avalanche affected the structure of the Säntis suspension railway
The recent avalanche occurred at the time when the rescue and clearing work of the previous avalanche of 10 January was discontinued on Schwägalp and the access of the whole area was locked for all people. The reason for the interruption of this work was the heavy snowfall associated with the increased avalanche danger. Like the renewed event showed, the risk was correctly assessed by the professionals. Between the first avalanche event and the one that damaged the prop there was a snowfall of 1.5 meters of fresh snow. This strong snowfall, in combination with high wind in the peaks may have led to a renewed avalanche.
This new avalanche had less snow mass displaced than the first avalanche event. Accordingly, the snow also did not penetrate to the Schwägalp, but came to standstill before.
Due to this recent event, it is assumed that the suspension railway operation Säntis will stop for months. For the employees of the Säntis, the decision of the suspension railway has no consequences, neither financially nor with respect to their employment.
What this means for the current renovation work of the summit restaurant on the Säntis cannot be assessed at this moment. The economic effects cannot be estimated yet. However, the most important thing is to give guests and employees the highest level of safety and security.
TSV: Two skiers extracted, ‘no additional victims’
From Taos News
Two skiers were critically injured in an avalanche on Thursday (Jan. 17) near Kachina Peak, the highest point at Taos Ski Valley ski resort.
According to a press release from the resort, an “inbounds avalanche” occurred in chute three on Kachina Peak just before noon, burying two men, who have not yet been identified.
Rescuers searching the snow extracted the men just before 1 p.m. and performed CPR on them before rushing them to the base of the resort.
Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak.
According to a report heard on Taos Central Dispatch before 3 p.m., a medic transporting one of the men in an ambulance to Holy Cross Hospital in Taos said she had “one male trauma patient,” for whom she had established an IV and an intubator, a medical device that helps a person breath when they are unconscious.
Taos County Emergency Services Chief Chris Medina said the other man was also in critical condition and was being flown by helicopter to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
According to a press release from the ski resort, the search for others who might have been buried was called off after 2 p.m., when rescuers determined there to be “no additional victims.”
SLF’s Swiss Long-Term Statistics of Avalanche Victims. The SLF, (Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research) has been collecting data on all the avalanche accidents that happened in Switzerland since the winter 1936/37. This is an overview of their statistics:
Avalanche victims since 1936
The annual average number of fatalities over the entire period is 25 (Fig. 1).
Figure 1:Avalanche fatalities in Switzerland since 1936/37. The graph illustrates the fall in the number of fatalities in buildings and on transportation routes. The black line shows the 20-years mean values. Its maximal value is 31 and its actual value 23. The long-year mean value since 1936/37 (81 years) is 25. SLF’s Swiss Long-Term Statistics of Avalanche Victims.
Spatial distribution of fatal accidents during the last twenty years
More than 90% of the fatal avalanche accidents during the last twenty years occurred in uncontrolled terrain, like for example during off-piste skiing and snowboarding or during backcountry touring on ski or snowshoes. As can be seen in Figure 2, a particularly large number of accidents occurred in the cantons of Valais and Grisons.
Fig. 2: Regional distribution of the fatal avalanche accidents in Switzerland (20 years). For each of the more than 120 subregions, which are the basis for the regionalization of the avalanche bulletin, the number of fatal accidents was counted. The larger a symbol, the more accidents occurred in this region. SLF’s Swiss Long-Term Statistics of Avalanche Victims .
But what is the reason of this clustering?
Is the clustering of accidents a consequence of a high touring frequency in these regions, or are there other reasons for a higher avalanche accident risk in these regions?
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