SLF

Mountain guide Stefan Neuhauser experienced an unusual avalanche phenomenon during a freeride tour with a group in the Aosta Valley on March 21, 2014: despite a hard-frozen blanket of snow, with only the top few centimetres of the snow having melted, he and his group triggered an avalanche. The avalanche was triggered in the Val di Rhemes, on the Cima le l'Entrelor in the Aosta Valley (Italy). The avalanche was a mixture of a snow slab and a uniform snow avalanche.

The human factor receives surprisingly little attention in current avalanche research. So-called "soft facts", such as group dynamics during freeriding or touring, are hardly studied scientifically. Benjamin Zweifel from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF is one of the few people working on this aspect of avalanche research. In this context, he is also supervising Nicholas Wolken's diploma thesis together with Dr. Reinhard Tschiesner from the University of Bolzano.

Avalanche airbags are now regarded as useful additional safety equipment. The 2012/13 market overview will help you decide.

Everything pointed to a perfect day. I had been following the daily avalanche reports from the SLF and the weather reports for the Gotthard region since the end of January. After the heavy snowfall and strong winds, it was clear to me: wait for relief!