Avalanche News - 2020

Avalanche News Stories - 2020

December 16, 2020 - ARVA Releases The Reactor Vest 15

ARVA announces the launch of the Reactor Vest, now available. The 15L Reactor Airbag Vest was designed with input from Ski Patrollers, Snowmobilers, and Snowboarders to cover optimal storage needs and safely moving through the mountains in a variety of backcountry terrain. The 15L vest has ample storage because of the small and ideally located airbag system, and the front pockets are perfect for quick access to rescue or any essential tools or gear. The storage and balance allow for convenience and level of safety. More ...

December 15, 2020 - Caltrans adds firepower to deal with avalanches near Carson Pass

Caltrans is adding some firepower in efforts to control avalanches near Carson Pass. The Caltrans District 10 Caples Lake crew has been installing powerful LoCat guns adjacent California State Route 88 and will use them to mitigate potential avalanches in an avalanche zone. More ...

November 26, 2020 - Two new Avalanche Control Systems installed by CDOT

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has installed two new avalanche control systems in preparation for the 2020-2021 winter season. The new technology and remotely controlled systems will ensure safer avalanche mitigation missions for CDOT maintenance personnel and more efficient, reliable and safer travel conditions for motorists. More ...

November 18, 2020 - Silver Mountain makes changes after deadly avalanche

Silver Mountain Ski Resort is making some changes after a deadly avalanche hit the mountain last January. Three people died and four others were injured after an avalanche on the black diamond 16-to-1 run on Wardner Peak on Jan. 7, 2020. A report concluded that a skier may have unintentionally triggered it. More ...

November 13, 2020 - Prince Charles's Near-Death Avalanche Incident

One of the lesser-known royal-adjacent tragedies is depicted in season four of The Crown: Prince Charles's 1988 skiing accident. The episode, appropriately named "Avalanche," reveals how Charles nearly died — and one of his friends actually did — in a sudden avalanche on a steep Swiss mountain. More ...

October 19, 2020 - French Ski Area Using Drone To Help Save Lives

This winter Les3Vallees in the French Alps will have access to a high-powered drone that has already proved its worth in avalanche and mountain rescues. The drone was tested last season in the Belleville Valley ski resorts of Val Thorens, Les Menuires and St Martin de Belleville. It helped save precious time in an avalanche rescue in February and a huge mudslide this spring. The drone proved its worth last winter when it was sent up to inspect a small avalanche in Les Menuires in February. More ...

October 16, 2020 - New Information on ‘Super Critical Crack Length’

This research will help improve the evaluation of the run-out distance of avalanches, help develop next generation avalanche dynamics models for engineering, help studies of the effects of climate change, and help improve hazard mapping and risk management procedures in a climate change context. In terms of the “practical relevance” of what the super critical crack length means to people in the backcountry, Gaume said it is not clear. More ...

September 28, 2020 -The Swiss Air Rescue Rega rescued a hiker from an avalanche

The woman had been buried more than a meter deep by snow while on a hiking trail. Two Rega helicopters, two mountain rescuers from the Swiss Alpine Club SAC and an avalanche dog went to the rescue. More ...

March 10, 2020 - Swiss air ambulance Rega rescues three skiers from an avalanche near Zuoz

The helicopter flew from Rega’s base at Samedan towards Alp Apriglia in Zuoz, where a 200-m long avalanche had buried three people of a group of five skiers. The two who were unscathed had tried to free the others. The medics helped free the three people and gave first aid. The patients were flown to hospital for treatment of hypothermia and minor injuries. More ...

February 13, 2020 - A tanker got mired in avalanche debris in Alaska’s Thompson Pass

Two truckers weren’t able to stop quickly enough to avoid avalanche debris in Thompson Pass, with one rig getting fully stuck in the snow for hours as plow crews worked around it. The trucks weren’t struck by the avalanche but hit the debris. One truck heading to Valdez was fully hung up in the snow, which raised its cab several feet off the ground and broke headlights. DOT closed the highway as workers assessed the situation. Amid heavy winds in the avalanche-prone zone, they used projectiles to try to trigger other potential slides. After nothing else was triggered, workers began removing snow from the road. More ...

February 13, 2020 - Himachal Pradesh Training on rescue during avalanche

The Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA) in collaboration with Snow Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) is imparting training on safety and rescue methods during snow avalanche. Three districts are prone to snow avalanches, and several people have lost their lives due to the disaster. A majority of the people were not aware of the difference between snow avalanche and glacier. They do not know which areas were prone to avalanche and how to lead a rescue operation. More ...

February 16, 2020 - Register your emergency locator beacons

An unregistered beacon inadvertently or accidentally activated is a real headache for rescue teams. "An activated beacon is right up there with the things we need to respond to urgently so we go to these things," says Helicopter operations manager Stuart Farquhar. "That takes the resource of that helicopter away from everything else it could be doing - car accidents, farm accidents. We don't want to be going to false alarms." More ...

 

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