AVALANCHE FILES: The problem of experience
Experience is typically a good thing, but when dealing with avalanches experience can get us into trouble. Ironically, it is experience—or more accurately stated: misguided experience—that sets the stage for common mistakes made by recreational skiers.
The most common mistake is not thinking avalanche. Most skiers have no experience with avalanches. Each new winter we gain more experience in the snow but unless we trigger avalanches or have a close call we don’t realize the danger. Past experiences become representative of what we expect should happen today. Since avalanches have not been a problem in the past, avalanches will not be a problem today. With no danger perceived we stop thinking of avalanches and a let our guard down.
While experience can fool us into ignoring avalanches, it can also trick us into believing we will be safe. Basically we think we will be safe because we have done this before. Take a look at six common myths:
• We’re safe because we’ve skied here before. There is nothing more comforting then being in familiar surroundings, but in avalanche country it can be a deadly trap. An avalanche doesn’t care how many times you have skied a slope. Most important are the snow layers and weather conditions on any given day. Avalanche danger changes from week to week, day to day, and sometimes even hour to hour.
• We’re safe because we’re in the trees. Trees do not necessarily anchor the snow. If the slope is steep enough and the snow weak enough, an avalanche can occur in the trees. Trees can provide anchorage as long as they are very tightly spaced, so tight you cannot easily ski around them. But, that’s not fun skiing.
• We’re safe because we’re with an expert. Just because your friend is an expert skier does not mean they know about avalanches. Maybe they have just been lucky. Research and accident investigations have revealed that people’s avalanche awareness skills lag far behind their skiing skills.
• We’re safe because others went first. Tracks on a slope do not necessarily mean the snow is stable. The tracks may only mean that earlier skiers have not yet hit a trigger point. A steep snow-covered slope can be a minefield of hidden spots of weak snow. In Switzerland nearly 40% of recreational accidents occurred on slopes with existing tracks.
• We’re safe because the slope is too small. While size matters in most activities, a small avalanche can kill just as easily as a large avalanche. Most deadly small avalanches occur in terrain traps. This is terrain where if caught your chances of survival are less likely. Terrain traps include ravines, creek bottoms, cliffs, boulder fields, trees, and crevasses
• We’re safe because we have avalanche rescue gear. Carrying avalanche transceivers, shovels, and probes are no guarantee of survival. Too often we rely upon our equipment to keep us safe or to get us out of trouble. When used appropriately technology can save lives, but when technology is used to justify taking greater risks a skier is only asking for trouble.
Just because you have ripped steep slopes in the past doesn’t mean you should today. Don’t stumble into the same mistakes caused by misguided experience. Take time to learn about avalanches and always keep thinking avalanche. Next time we’ll look at specific clues to avalanche danger and I’ll offer up some new tips to staying safe.
Dale Atkins has served as the top forecaster at the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in Boulder for nearly two decades and is one of the world's top experts in the field.
