What to do During an Avalanche

WHAT TO DO DURING AN AVALANCH SO YOU ARE IN 89% AN AVALANCHE of avalanche victims are men If the avalanche starts right under your feet, try maneuvering uphill or to the side to get off the fracturing slab of snow. If you're on skis or a snowboard, head downhill first to gather some speed, and then veer to the side and off the slab. If you're on a snowmobile, continue in the direction you were going and throttle it off the sliding snow. If you're not going to make it out, drop your ski poles, and equipment, and abandon your snowmobile. But keep your pack on you! You want to be as buoyant as possible in order to minimize how much you sink into the snow. 90% of avalanche fatalities occur in avalanches triggered by the victim himself, or by someone in the victim's party. So avalanches aren't exactly freak accidents. ONCE THE AVALANCHE HAS BURIED YOU About 90% of avalanche victims can be recovered alive if they are dug out within the first 15 minutes. After 35 minutes, only about 35% are still alive. Those that survive after an hour have a large air pocket. After three hours, almost no one is alive. 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AVALANCHES (BEFORE YOU DIE) 1 Loose snow avalanches account for only a small percentage of deaths and property damage. “Slab" avalanches (the most lethal) are cohesive plates of snow sliding as a unit. 90% 150 3 PEOPLE In 90 percent of avalanche accidents, the victim or someone in the victim's Each year avalanches kill more than 150 people worldwide. party causes the snow slide. AVALANCHES ARE CAUSED BY FOUR FACTORS: 5 A steep slope Snow cover A weak layer in the snow cover A trigger 4 The human body is 3x denser than avalanche debris and will sink quickly. When the slide slows, clear air space to breathe, then punch your hand skyward. Unlike its portrayal in movies, noise does not trigger avalanches. 7 An avalanche is often triggered when a person's body weight pro- vides just enough extra stress to col- lapse the weaker layer below Avalanche risk is at its greatest 24 hrs. following a snowfall of 12 inches or more. 9 8 Any slope capable of producing an avalanche eventually will. Cracks and whooping sounds are good warnings of a pending avalanche. These moving masses can reach speeds of 80 miles/hr. within about 5 seconds. 10 If a victim can be rescued within 18 minutes, the survival rate is greater than 91 percent. The survival rate drops to 34 percent in burials between 19 and 35 minutes. Sources: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/12/14/how-to-survive-an-avalanche/ http://www.henrysavalanchetalk.com/how-long-can-you-live-under-snow http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-avalanches# INFOGRAPHIC DESIGNED BY ENationalPositions Profitable Internet Marketing SnowBigDeal.com