A COMPREHENSIVE AVALANCHE RESOURCE FOCUSING
ON AVALANCHE AWARENESS, EDUCATION AVOIDANCE AND PREVENTION!
NOW UPDATED FOR THE 2011/2012 SEASON !
10/23/2011- Saw Snow on the Mountains a Few Hours from the Home Base last weekend!
Won't be long until it's snowing here too! Welcome to the New Winter Season!
Check out this KILLer video of AVALANCHES
Some Triggered by SNOWBOARDERS !
DONT LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU !
Avalanches are the major concern for backcountry riders.
Learn all you can about safety and survival gear,what you need for backcountry cruising,how to use it properly, where to buy it today!
This page covers all the different aspects of snowslides by category...Please check out each section carefully and learn all you can before going into the backcountry...
Of all the dangers in the backcountry... a large avalanche poses the most threat
you can't see them... you can't hear them... you can't feel them...
UNTIL THE SPLIT SECOND THEY START AND BY THEN ITS USUALLY TOO LATE...
I speak from experience having survived two medium avi lanches in ALTA UTAH... one where I was totally buried and another partially buried... both triggered by me while skiing...Plus a few close calls with large sluff slides and a small avi that I triggered in Hokkaido Japan, but rode out of the way...
I have also PERSONALLY seen 2 HUGE avalanches that were clocked at up to 200 MPH PLUS when I lived in Alta Utah ...They go so fast, nothing can outrun them. I will never forget the time I saw one of these slides cover 200 yds in less that 2 seconds in the flats, fill the adjacent creek full of snow and then continue uphill for 50 yards...AND...
then in less than 2 minutes... freeze solid...
SO THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF!
AVALANCHE AWARENESS AND EDUCATION
Most experts will agree that most fatal avalanches are triggered by people who are either skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling,trekking or snowshoeing...
Most experts will agree that knowing these 3 things about avalanches is the best way to stay safe...
#1...This basically means avoiding avalanche prone terrain...
#2...Being aware of what weather conditions occurring within the last few days that may create conditions favorable for avalanches...
#3...How the previous weeks or months weather is directly related to avalanche danger levels for TODAY !
Most avalanche experts will also agree that avoiding high risk avalanche areas is the best way to stay safe... But this is much more difficult in practice and even the experts occasionally get caught by surprize...
A very famous quote says... "Remember that the avalanche does not KNOW you are an EXPERT"
I am no avalanche expert, just a very lucky survivor. Check out all the sections related to avalanches with links to resources for education ,classes and training, avalanche testing and safety gear below...
AVALANCHE CENTERS AND RESOURCES
Here is a guide to some of the best avalanche resources available on the internet.It should be noted that this not by any means a comprehensive or extensive resource list as there are literally thousands of resources about every aspect of avi science...
I think the best place to start your search for avi info is AVALANCHE.org they are the best starting out point with links to all the major avalanche centers in the USA and Canada and with links to many other avi resources...
Another good place to start your quest is the avalanche section of the National Snow and Ice Data Center NSIDC...They have a few good pointers about avalanches and links to other avi centers and resources...
Next place to hit is the CYBERSPACE AVI CENTER...you can find lots of resources here and a section with semi global network of avalanche centers with avi forecasting and advisories...
I also read about spring and summer avalanches and took the quiz, I barely passed at 7 out of 10 correct and went back and thoroughly reviewed the material...
It was a eyeopener for me as I realized that I have been making some mistakes during the spring...So this is a good time to read about spring avalanches, again any information is better than none at all...Another good resource is to read the first hand accounts of avalanche survivors...
You can't go wrong reading all the good info from the Canadian Avalanche Association. The CAA has a wealth of info about avalanches that could take days to get through...Summer time is soon so spend the days to get through all the info they have Canadian AVI Association and seriously think about joining a RAC class ....
UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER Here you will find another excellent and professional avalanche resource with educational info and advisories and lots of new stuff such as the Beacon basins for practicing your beacon searching techniques...If you plan to go into the backcountry anywhere near Utah these are the guys to call and learn from...You can also support this group by buying lift tickets through them!
BEFORE YOU GO INTO THE BACKCOUNTRY...
YOU NEED #1... AN AVALANCHE BEACON... #2 A SNOW SHOVEL ... #3 A PROBE
#1 ...An avalanche beacon should be the #1 item in your easily accessible jacket pocket...Followed by a PROBE AND a SHOVEL...An avalanche beacon is WORTHLESS unless you have a probe and a shovel to dig out your friend , your family member, a member of your snowboarding crew or even a complete stranger Avalanched snow freezes ROCK HARD in 30 seconds to a minute or two after it stops and if you are without a beacon, shovel and probe. THEY ARE DEAD 80% of the time within the first 30 minutes...
AVALANCHE BEACONS...THE FIRST DEFENSE
Backcountry.com is one of the best places to get avalanche beacons and avalanche survival packages with Free Shipping... They have a really good selection of beacons , probes and shovels....
OK that takes care of the full line of Avalanche safety gear at BC.com...But I did leave one item out and that is the emergency blanket in case you get caught out late and can't make it back to safety... Check it out in the Avalanche survival section at Backcountry.com...
Check out this device called the Avalung !
It can save your life if you are caught in an avalanche...
It gives you an EXTRA 30 minutes to 60 minutes to allow your buddies to find you and get you dug out...If they don't find you by then YOU ARE DEAD...
Here's an UPDATE ! Black Diamond has now put out a very good selection of Combination Avalung/hydration/backcountry packs at very reasonable prices, you can find them in many of the stores below.
Backcountry.com also carries a good selection of avalanche probes ...Buy one of these separately if you don't buy one of the Beacon/probe/shovel packages... One of the last things but certainly not the least is the Avalanche shovel...If you or your buddy or someone else in the area doesn't have SHOVELSANYONE BURIED IS DEAD...DEAD...DEAD...
MountainGear.com has all the backcountry gear that you could use for backcountry snowboarding... Alot of it for extreme snowsports, mountaineering, climbing and winter trekking...
Now hit over to check out the avalanche gear at Boardtactics.com Look in the snow/accessories/backcountry section to find some shovels, probes and poles by Dakine and the K2 backcountry field kit...The kit is on sale at a reasonable price so it is cheap insurance in case you ever get stuck out somewhere overnight...
The next place to shop is
REI.com...They ALSO have the current beacon that I use and recommend to everyone...It is the BCA DTS Tracker AVALANCHE BEACON...IT GETS MY HOT PRODUCT DESIGNATION... Check out this avalanche beacon and the Pieps beacon too...Any beacon is better than NO beacon, but the BCA BAT is hands down the best I have seen on the market so far, plus the easiest I have used...Check em out at
REI.com! You can find all of the avalanche safety gear in the Snowboarding section then look in the Avalanche section
NEW FOR THIS SEASON !
This Season evo.com has ramped up and expanded their product lines to included lots and lots of backcountry gear, in a kind of strange but very large mix of climbing skins, avalung packs, beacons, shovels and probes and more! You can find all in their Backcountry Dept...
If you live ANYWHERE in the European Union...
You are in luck as the HOTZONE.tv has free shipping to anywhere in EU and they have a decent selection of backcountry packs, beacons, shovels, probes and first aid by Ortovox in the Backcountry section... The top pick here is the Ortovox crossrider set, which includes the crossrider backpack,an avi shovel, beacon and probe all engineered to fit perfectly into the pack and out of the pack FAST... It gets my hot product reccomendation for sure...While you are there at the HOTZONE.tv check out the equally killer selection of snowboarding gear they got... I am still searching and always searching for more online shops that carry the Latest avalanche gear !
If you would like to contact me with questions
or comments...
Please click the and then thru the Captcha in two EZ steps.
My email Policy...
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND PRIVACY ARE VERY VERY IMPORTANT TO ME !
#1...I dont sell email addresses Ever !
#2... I don't send SPAM Ever !
#3... I do securely store email addresses online and offline !
#4... I will not give up email adresses unless legally obligated to do so...
#5... I will send you email ONLY directly related to New Products, Events, News and Promotions
that are directly related to snowboarding-master.com...
NO THIRD PARTY OFFERS... As of Now and You can opt out at any time! End of My email Policy...
