How to Survive an Avalanche

Posted on July 28th, 2009 by Carmelia

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Avalanches can happen very quickly and without warning. Avalanches are responsible for an average of 150 people annually. If you ever find yourself in facing an avalanche, these guidelines could help you survive it. Read on to learn more.

Find Warning Signs of an Avalanche

Whatever tips that you read in this article, the best way to “survive” an avalanche is to avoid it. Caution paired with knowing what to look out for can make all the difference.

Slopes with a 30 to 45 degree angle are always suspect.
Avoid gullies and bowls.
Research if the slope you’re going to has a history of avalanches. Physical clues are treeless chutes through wooded areas, aka passages in woods devoid of trees.
Try to avoid the areas where the avalanche will have more impact, namely the slopes and the runoff area of the valley floor. Knowing where the avalanche will stop can help you in staying in safer grounds.
Find out the consistency of the snow, as it plays a very big role in avalanches. A dense layer of snow on top of looser snow can mean a lot of trouble. You can do snowpack tests to determine the snow consistency for yourself.
Keep updated on avalanche warnings issued by the local government or by the people who run ski resorts as well. They have access to tools that can help determine the possibility of an avalanche better.

Steps to Survive

Here are the things you can do to help you survive an avalanche. Remember, things can happen very fast, so you need to be quick on your feet to apply everything all at once.

Invest in a beacon. A beacon is a device that is attached to the inside of your clothes and emits a pulse a radio signal of 457 kHz.
Ditch your gear. Drop your bags, and if possible lose your skis. These items can weigh you down under the snow. However, ski poles can be helpful for rescue teams to locate you, as sometimes they jut out of the snow.
Sometimes, people themselves trigger the avalanche, and if this happens, you have a split-second chance to jump back upslope, just before the fracture line where the avalanche will start. It may sound impossible to do, but people have done this before.
Once an avalanche starts moving, go to the side nearest you. Running downwards or upwards won’t help, so moving sideways is your best option. Not only do you have a better chance of perhaps avoiding the avalanche together, the sides of the avalanche is where the snow is thinnest.
Try to keep upright. Again, this may be quite difficult, but this will help prevent you from going under or buying more time to find a safe place to go to.
Grab onto something or find protection behind a rock or anything similar. Even if you get carried away eventually, you have that chance of not getting as buried as deeply as you would have.
Try to remain at the surface of the snow as much as possible, employing the backstroke to swim through the snow.
Get breathing room. Think of getting submerged in snow as being submerged in water. Take a deep breath and hold it when caught in an avalanche. The expansion of your chest will prevent the snow from packing too densely around you. Cup both your hands in front of your mouth to create an air pocket to allow you to breathe.
If you get buried in the snow, determine your position by spitting or peeing to know which way you’re facing. If you’re near the surface, you can dig yourself out, but if you think you are in too deep, the best chance for you is to wait. Moving can destroy the air bubble which helps you survive.