Lawinensicherheit

The leaflet "Attention Avalanche" is a foldable flyer to take away, which is used during training and can be consulted as a reminder and mental aid in the terrain and when planning tours. The leaflet has been revised and reissued. You can download it free of charge here (print, fold, insert...).

There are a lot of things in snow and avalanche science that can be classified as wrong or at least need to be put into perspective. Misunderstanding of complex contexts also plays a role in this respect. We clear up some of them and explain what you should memorize instead.

There have already been five avalanche fatalities in (South) Tyrol this season. Unfortunately, because where there is snow and mountains, there are also avalanches - no matter what time of year.

Avalanche rescue has made great progress in recent decades because new rescue and communication technologies are being used more and more frequently by off-piste skiers, ski tourers and rescuers.

What has been going on at PowderGuide.com over the summer? Do the PGers do anything at all in the summer? What happened to the user survey from last spring? Questions upon questions that we now want to answer!

Avalanche dogs save lives thanks to their good nose: despite modern technology, they are still irreplaceable. Like other mountain rescue services, the Tyrolean Mountain Rescue Service trains the sniffer dogs. PG was on site and was amazed at how deeply the four-legged friends can sniff out scents.

At first glance, the Pieps Pro+ shovel is a standard avalanche shovel of a slightly larger type. The telescopic handle locks into place with the familiar "push-button system" and is 81 cm long when extended. The shovel blade is 25cm wide (=relatively large). The special feature: A saw is hidden in the shovel handle.

For most freeriders and ski tourers, it is a matter of course to think about questions like: What does the situation report say? How is the weather, how is the snow? Was it windy, is there fresh drift snow? Is the snowpack structure favorable? We know that we have to be aware of our surroundings if we want to move safely in avalanche terrain. However, we often forget to consider ourselves and our behavior in the group. The SLF has developed a checklist to help prevent problems with group dynamics.

For some years now, avalanche problems have been included in the situation reports of many warning services. The Utah Avalanche Center, among others, has been in charge of this. The avalanche problems are based on an article by Roger Atkins, published as part of the International Snow Science Workshop 2004. They indicate "typical, recurring and mostly obvious" hazardous situations. The avalanche problems provide an initial, rather rough overview of possible sources of danger, while the "danger patterns" developed by the LWD Tirol focus more on the causes.

I have a cell phone with me when I'm skiing, if only for safety reasons. Of course, taking pictures and listening to music on your smartphone isn't bad either. Sometimes I take a helmet camera with me, or maybe a real camera, or both, or an MP3 player, or a GPS, or a radio, or something else from the electronic fleet that many of us have at home. Unfortunately, none of this really works well with the avalanche transceiver. Why is that and what should I look out for?

This text is aimed at all those who like to take part in freeride camps, test days organized by magazines and ski brands, freeride days organized by safety equipment suppliers and state or private educational institutions or even ride-with-me offers advertised by professional freeskiers themselves. Who are you actually following into what can be high alpine terrain with all its alpine beauty and dangers? And what happens if something happens? Stephan Skrobar tries to sharpen your awareness of potential problems.

"The Ride Short Protection Airbag is our all-rounder [...]. The short version is specially designed for the female anatomy. A shorter back and narrower shoulder strap construction ensure a high level of comfort. [...] the perfect companion for freeriding and ski touring." According to the description of the Mammut marketers, this backpack is made for me, with my 163 cm height, 50 kg weight and my favorite snow sports activities. Now to my test results of the Mammut Ride Short Protection Airbag.