Lawinensicherheit

The third tour stop of the Freeride World Tour in Saalbach-Hinterglemm/Leogang/Fieberbrunn is just around the corner. The riders will once again be battling for the judges' points to make the cut for the FWT stop in Alaska. To provide you with a little more background information, Benjamin Eggert spoke to Head Judge Berti Denervaud at the FWT stop in Andorra about safety issues and judging.

The Tracker series from the US company Backcountry Access, part of the K2 Group, has been a firm fixture on the avalanche transceiver market for years. Although the trackers are not as widespread in Europe as they are in the USA, their owners in the old world still appreciate them for their ease of use and speed. With the Tracker 3, BCA has had a current 3 antenna avalanche transceiver on the market since last season, which should once again shine with the proven features and some enhancements. We got an impression of the Tracker 3 in an extensive practical test and learned to appreciate its strengths, but also found some weak points.

If you want to know something about the stability of the snow cover and would rather not test it by driving into it, you need alternatives. The basic principle of snow cover tests is similar to driving in: You hit it or otherwise provide a load and see what happens. Unlike driving in, you do this in a controlled environment so that you can actually have a look first and don't get buried straight away.

The winter of 2014/15 was characterized by an exceptionally snow-poor early winter with correspondingly below-average snow depths. Over the entire winter, snow depths were only just above average above 2200 m and above average on the southern slopes of the Alps. These marked differences in snow depth depending on altitude were caused by above-average temperatures, which repeatedly melted away the snow at medium and low altitudes. With the exception of February, the months of November to March were all too warm, and early winter was record warm in some cases. Despite the excessively warm winter, large parts of the Central Plateau and Jura experienced an average number of snow days thanks to a favorable combination of cold and precipitation. The snow cover build-up was weak in the inner Alps, but also at times on the northern slopes of the Alps, whereas it was much more stable on the southern slopes of the Alps. Compared to the long-term average, last winter was more dangerous. Danger level 3 (considerable) was forecast more than normal, level 2 (moderate) less. Two major avalanche accidents led to an above-average number of avalanche fatalities overall. By April 15, 32 people had died in avalanches.

Part 2 of the ISPO Report 2016: Pieps and Arva present new avalanche transceivers at ISPO, while the other manufacturers stick to their existing models. When it comes to airbags, various manufacturers are in a fierce race for the lightest system. Arcteryx and Arva are presenting airbag backpacks for the first time. Ortovox is now also using its own system.

Lukas Ruetz, born in 1993, from St. Sigmund in the Tyrolean Sellraintal, collects a good 200,000 meters of ascent altitude per season, almost exclusively in his immediate home mountains. On his blog, Lukas reports eloquently and informatively about his tours, be it typical Sellrain standard routes or steep first ascents, to the delight of his considerable readership. The young and tradition-conscious ski tourer is an active member of the mountain rescue service and an observer for the Tyrolean avalanche warning service. He is usually only accompanied on tour by his dog.

Avalanche accidents with injuries or even fatalities are rarely solely due to snowpack structure, terrain and weather. Rather, one particular element often plays the most important role: when people are traveling in groups, decisions are made that are not always the best ones and can end tragically in the worst case.

With WhiteRisk, the SLF has been offering an online platform for several years that primarily serves to prevent accidents and impart knowledge. For the 2015/16 season, there are some new features and expanded offerings.

In addition to the avalanche app from the Tyrolean LWD, there is now a quiz app from the same company with which you can playfully improve your knowledge on the subject of avalanches and snowpack structure.

As every year, the Austrian Avalanche Warning Services have made last winter's report available for free download (pdf) just in time for the start of the new season. It's worth a look, if only for the many sobering pictures and accident reports. The report contains guest contributions from avalanche wardens from Bavaria, Slovenia and South Tyrol. We have summarized a few key facts.

The second episode of Black Diamond TV follows avalanche forecaster and researcher Drew Hardesty. Hardesty lives and works in Utah and has been observing developments in the ski touring scene for a long time.

In early summer 2015, the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF hosted an international seminar on avalanche (accidents) and legal issues in Davos.