Avalanche expert Says Keep to the Meadows and Rolling Hills
By 250 News
Monday, January 19, 2009 10:04 AM
Prince George, B.C.- With two more deaths attributed to avalanches since Friday, avalanche expert Peter Marshall says the time is now to stay away from the peaks, and head to the rolling meadows.
Marshall was speaking on the Meisner program on 93.1 CFIS FM this morning. He says avalanche conditions are perfect when there are temperature differences between the top of the snowpack and the bottom. “When that happens something called faceting occurs. So the snow in the middle can become like sugar, it’s like a layer of ball bearings.”
Marshall says there are some unique characteristics to this winter as the avalanche conditions are spread throughout the province, normally such dangerous conditions are usually specific.
Snowmobiler Lee Sexsmith says some of the safety gear may give a rider a false sense of security “Some of those who have died were wearing those air bag packs, but they weren’t deployed.” Sexsmith says the rider could have been confused “When an avalanche hits, the snow hits your face, you’re choking, your machine is rolling with you, so there’s a lot going on and it’s happening really fast. So just because someone is wearing an air bag pack that doesn’t mean it will save them.”
On Friday, a 33 year old man from Edmonton Alberta died in a slide in the Monashee Mountains south of Valemount. Yesterday, a 30 year old man from Hythe Alberta died in a slide on Babcock Mountain near Tumbler Ridge.
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Practice, practice, practice.
As a standard procedure, most organized groups conduct a practice run of their safety equipment at the beginning of an event. Private citizen groups such as an ad hoc snow mobile group do not.
Make it a mandatory part of all events to test your safety gear and ensure that ALL members of the party are comfortable and confident with the equipment.
Also, this is one strange avalanche year, stay off the mountain to stay alive. Most of those killed this year are experienced and skilled outdoor enthusiasts with avalanche courses to their credit. This has given them the false sense of security where they believe they can deal with the situation.
What these folks fail to realize is that mother nature does not care one bit how many safety and avalanche courses you have taken. You will die!