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Avalanche!
A look at how avalanches occur
SLAB FORMATION AVALANCHES
These are the most dangerous type of avalanches. They occur when layers of snow of varying density build up and are destabilized by weight. Wind can easily deposit 60 cm of snow in two hours, producing a huge weight very fast.
Starting zone: Surface snow cracks and slides away from fracture line. Avalanche track: Path that snow follows as it goes downhill. Runout zone: Snow and debris stops moving victims most likely to be buried here.

Fresh snowfall: Can increase mass to critical level. Buried surface hoar: Icy crust formerly at surface. Depth hoar snow: Large, low-density crystals formed by rising water vapour. As the temperature rises, the bottom layer becomes very slippery.

A slight weight can trigger the top layer of snow to loosen and slide down the mountain.

Duncan MacKenzie, 35, a long-time ski patroller, was killed in a snowslide east of Pemberton, B.C., on Thursday.

Two people have recently died in B.C. avalanches, bringing the total deaths to three for this season.

Greg Sheardown. 45, was killed while heli-skiing near Revelstoke, B.C.

In 90% of avalanche accidents, the victim or someone in the victims party triggers the avalanche. Sound cannot trigger and avalanche.

B.C.

1 2
Heli-skiing

Alta. Sask.

AVALANCHE DANGER AREAS FATALITIES Number of avalanche fatalities, winters 1970-2010

Wind direction

Windward side

Ridge line Leewar side Danger area

The safest areas to travel are along the windward slope of the ridge line. Or along the valley oor, away from the leeward slope.

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 70

Canada

30 km/h
2011 deaths
2 Backcountry skiing, Alberta 3 Backcountry skiing, B.C. 6 Snowmobiling, B.C.

O -trail, downhill skiing accessed by a helicopter, not a ski lift. As of April, 2011, no one heli-skiing or cat-skiing died in avalanches in 2010-11, while two people died this way in the previous ski season. Twenty-six mechanized skiers, which includes heli- and cat-skiers, have been killed by avalanches since 1993-1994, with nine losing their lives in 1996-1997.

Speed at which an average-sized dry avalanche travels its nearly impossible for someone to outrun an avalanche.

oor alley V

WEATHER-PRODUCED AVALANCHES Wind: Most common cause of weather-produced avalanches. Wind can deposit snow 10 times faster than snow falling from storms. Snowstorms: If the weight of new snow is added faster than the buried weak layer can adjust to its load, then it fractures and forms an avalanche. Rapid warming: Rare. Avalanches caused by rain or melting of surface snow occur because of a decrease in strength of the buried weak layer. The water dissolves the bonds between the snow grains.

Fatalities by type of activity, 2000-2010 10% 8%

Mechanized skiing

Other

5%

75

80

85

90

95

00

05

10

150

Average number of avalanche fatalities that happen per year, globally

14

Mountaineering

41%
Backcountry skiing

Average number of deaths that occur per year in Canada more than threequarters of them occur in B.C.

Out-of-bounds skiing

7%

29%

Snowmobile

SUSAN BATSFORD, GRAPHICS EDITOR, TWITTER @SBATS1;/QMI AGENCY

Sources: Canadian Avalanche Centre; Utah Avalanche Centre; avalanche.org; Graphic News