Avalanche safety: What you can do

By Ron Judd
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Equip yourself. Safe winter travel requires the usual "10 essentials" of outdoor survival: map/compass, sunblock, extra food, water and clothing, flashlight/headlamp, first-aid kit, fire starter, repair kit and tools and emergency shelter. Special winter items: An avalanche transceiver and the knowledge to use it, ski or trekking poles and a portable shovel. Other options: new, inflatable devices that can be worn to create breathing space in the snow; and, though you should never count on it working, a cellphone.

Avalanche classes Courses are widely available locally. Some are workshops offered by outdoor groups; others are intensive, multiday training courses offered by professional instructors. Some good starting points: American Avalanche Association: www.avalanche.org/~aaap/ Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center: 206-526-6677; www.nwac.noaa.gov/ Northwest Avalanche Institute: 360-825-9261; www.avalanche.org/~nai/ American Alpine Institute: 360-671-1505; www.mtnguide.com/ The Mountaineers: 206-284-6310; www.mountaineers.org

Check conditions. The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center issues a forecast for avalanche danger. Check its Web site, www.nwac.noaa.gov, or avalanche hotline, 206-526-6677, before venturing out. If the danger is listed as considerable or high, consider alternate activity.

Don't think that all tracks in the snow are signs of intelligent life. The fact someone else has already entered an avalanche zone does not make it safe.

Don't travel alone. On open slopes, a group should maintain a healthy spread so an avalanche won't claim the whole group, and someone can help the victims.

Tell friends where you are going, when you expect to be back, and whom to call if you don't return on time.

If you are caught in an avalanche, fight to free yourself: Yell out and "swim" or roll yourself toward the edge. Keep a hand high in the air if you can. As the slide slows, close your mouth and try to create an air pocket around your face.

Final word: Get training. "We don't need to turn ourselves into snow physicists. But people need a basic knowledge of how and why snow can be stable one week, but unstable the next." — Dunham Gooding, president of American Alpine Institute, a Bellingham mountain-guide service.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company