Avalanche Safety
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If you can identify the site of a recent
or potential avalanche, you will decrease
your chances of being caught in an extremely
dangerous situation.
How
to spot a potential avalanche:
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Steps:
1. Check the amount of recent
snowfall. Heavy amounts of new snow increase the likelihood of an avalanche.
2. Pay attention to radical changes
in temperature that may cause snow to melt, become heavier or change
consistency. Layers of snow will settle and fracture where there is a major
difference in consistency.
3. Stay away from steep slopes, where
gravity will have a greater effect on the new snow.
4. Keep an eye out for fractures in
the snow along the face of the slope.
5. Look in the chutes, gullies and at
the bottom of steep slopes for avalanche debris. You will see a marked
difference in the snow - it looks like cottage cheese or boulders
6. Watch the snow around you as you
ski. If it comes loose and sloughs down the hill with you, then you are at risk
of getting caught up in it.
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