OCR Text |
Show 2* Avoid it by detouring the known hazardous slopes. Traverse a doubtful slope one skier at a time, either as high as possible or as far from the outrun as possible. The crest of a ridge is a safe route, but don't walk on the overhang of a cornice. 3* Avoid it by observation. Continually test snow conditions as you travel. Before going on a big slope, try out a small one of the same grade and exposure. If you see the track of a slab avalanche on one slope, its neighbor may be waiting for you to turn it loose. Watch the shadows. When they point at a slope like warning fingers, sun action is maximum. Seek the protection of heavy timber, windbeaten slopes and terrain barriers. Watch the weather. Any sudden change is dangerous. lu Avoid it by timing. Hole up during a severe storm and afterward until the snow has time to slide or settle. Let testing be your guide. Travel is possible during the first few hours of a storm. Use the time to get out of avalanche terrain. In spring avalanche weather, the period between 10 A. M. and sundown is the most dangerous. The early morning hours, before sunup, are the safest. 5. Avoid it by self- defense. If an area of high hazard must be traversed, let one man test ski it, protected by a safety rope and avalanche cord. Don't be satisfied with one test. Avalanches have a cynical habit of picking off the third skier in line, otherwise known as the hangfire. Avalanche Rescue 1. A person caught in an avalanche must do what he can- and it won't be much- for himself. Attempt to stay on the surface and get out of the main slidepath by swimming. Grab any obstruction. Take off your skis if you can, but the avalanche will do it for you. One thing you can and must doj cover your mouth and nose. If conscious when the slide stops, make a supreme effort to get a little airspace around your head and chest before the slide hardens. 2. People caught in avalanches either die immediately from crushing or after a few hours from suffication. Two hours is a sort of dividing line. The victim will probably live that long. After two hours, his chances go down rapidly, 3* Survivors must locate the spot where the victim was last seen on the surface and mark it so that it will not be obliterated by snowfall or drifting. Make a quick search of the slidepath below this point, looking for any evidence of the victim: pieces of equipment or clothing. Probe near these clues and in other likely spots. - 141- |