Is there a way to see avalanche danger for your area?

no offense, but in my opinion its stupid to rely on ANY website with stuff like this. Just look at the slope you wanna ride, test the snow,... I would make sure for myself that you are comfortable with riding down there, not following (maybe outdated info) on some websites.
 
Well there are several centers for avalanche information, but probably the most user-friendly is Mammut's safety app. It organizes avalanche bulletins, will tell you what the current avalanche dangeer level is and other cool stuff like that. Free download too.

Seriously though, the only way to know really is to go to an Avi class and study your face off. If you're inthe mtns regularly you should absolutely know what to look for and how to find it. You won't get a second chance to save your life or a friend's when that slab breaks no matter what the app told you.
 
i am not disputing that you should educate yourself, but remember who the classical avalanche victim is:

imo and what i read in newspapers around here, its either uneducated fuckheads or 50 yr old mountain guides.

i am all for training to search with a rescue system with your buddies and stuff but the best way to survive is plain and simple by saying "no" once in a while.

 
please tell me what my "stupid shit" or however you called it is exactly.

i stand by it. if you have the power/discipline/respect/fear to say NO once in a while even though there is a nice untracked line in front of you, its the best safety net you can have.

 
Is it just about saying "No" whenever, or are you studying the snowpack, terrain, recent weather/temperature patterns before making your determination to turn away from untouched snow?

You can say "No" all you want, but if you are blatantly ignoring the dangers, the one time you say "Yes" could be your last turns for good.
 
yes. by being smart and knowing how to read snow. please take an avy 1 course before heading out into the bc. it could save your life
 
Thas is quite possibly one of the most ignorant things I've ever read on here.

That fact that you've skied in the Alps for a decade and a half and think you've never put yourself in a dangerous situation tells me you have a lot to learn about snow safety and respect for the mountains... Or you're a fuckin gaper who only skis park. The secondary issue is that you think knowing snow safety somehow opens you up to danger, which is disturbing to say the least.

If this isn't what you're saying, then forgive me, but that is one of the dumbest, most dangerous and clueless things I think I've ever seen on here as it stands now. Take your head out of your ass before you get yourself or someone around you killed. Being ignorant in the mountains is a recipe for disaster.
 
He said the best way to avoid danger is simply by not going into dangerous situations in the first place.

Learn to fucking read.
 
of course i check that stuff.

what i am basically saying is that because of a billion variables going into every situation (recent weather situation with all its details, recent snow situation with all its details, terrain, nmber of tracks before snowfall, etc) you can never assess the actual danger perfectly.

my message is:

look at the "facts", yes. but it also has to "feel" right. if you dont have that feeling or sensitivity or whatever you wanna call it, you wont live long.

if youre not sure, DONT DO IT. better live another day than risk too much for one line.

idk what is wrong with that.

 
Oh I got that but clearly I thought you and your assclown felch partner must be joking, as that's the dumbest fucking statement I've ever read on here.

If not, you're essentially saying all I have to do is never push myself, never ski a hairy, steep line and only ski what's already been blow'd up by a patrol somewhere? I don't know where you ski, but that sounds dumb as fuck as that's the whole point of getting into the BC imo. Maybe you don't get that???

See, the rest of us might want to push ourselves. Maybe bag a peak we've been eyeing for a while or go somewhere we aren't familiar with or ski a line that isn't completely snowfucked by bombs. Those types of people need the tools to evaluate their situation and conditions to be able to make educated decisions, not just "I dunno dawg, that shit looks kinda dangerous". OF COURSE IT DOES THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT UNLESS YOU SKI LIKE A FUCKING BITCH ASS POSER AND ONLY SKI LOW ANGLE BULSHIT IN WHICH CASE JUST STAY IN THE FUCKING RESORT.

A decent analogy to what douchenuts is suggesting is why wear a seatbelt when you can just stay home? It just makes no sense. Why wouldn't someone who rides BC want to be as educated as possible about what they're seeing, what that means and WHERE/WHEN/WHY to say no??? Do me a favor and remove yourself from conversations you have nothing of substance to add, especially when your ignorance could get somebody killed. OP had a question, people are encouraging him to maximize his safety knowledge and fen is saying no??? Fuck. Off.
 
i know that an avalanche can get started on flat hills, in "loose" woods and all that stuff. i fucking know. and knowing snow safety is by no means a negative. what is negative though is that people want to make a science out of it when in reality it isnt and they get a false feeling of being safe out of it.

i am not ignorant. please be careful with such quotes. i am skiing with guys that are all well over 25 and we know how to get home alive, be assured of that. we all have ridden the same mountain all our lives and dont go into the BC somewhere else.

i am not saying that i know everything, but i am fairly confident that i am in the top 10% of awareness in this regard. i know that my life is potentially at risk in the BC, and i am trying to make damn sure that my gf, family and friends dont have to go to my funeral because of some dumb shit.

my basic message, AGAIN FOR ANYONE TO UNDERSTAND: be careful, check everything you can and even if all the "measurables" are right, have the power to say no. have the discipline to say no.

 
You sure got this whole respect thing covered. Nice and flexible use of taunts. A little Caps Lock here and there. I personally would have gone with "douchenozzle" but I digress. Excessive amount of questions marks and the length of the rant is acceptable.

B- for effort.
 
ok i got it, you like to ski risky stuff and youre pretty badass, ok? happy now?

what i am saying is that noone should say that "your" educated decisions are 100% bulletproof and thinking something like that is more dangerous than everything i have said. at what risk of an avalance do you enter a line? 20%, 30%, 50%??

do you think you know your stuff better than a mountain guide, they probably checked all the stuff and had more experience than both of us squared.

http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/panorama/vermischtes/Zwei-Skifahrer-aus-Lawinen-geborgen/story/17686505

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/mountain-guide-and-2-peoples-died-on-avalanche-in-france-t50898.html

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/ski-guide-dead-after-nz-avalanche-20090814-el0i.html

 
http://lawine.tirol.gv.at/english/

skifahren-ischgl_03.jpg


now tell me if i can ride a 35° line on a north/north-east slope above 2000 m in ischgl. thats where the "R4" is on the first link. the line is down the face in the middle of the picture.

i would really like to know and i am not sure. here you have your tools to make an educated decision. now make one.

 
Suspicions: confirmed.

Obviously the maturity to be able to say no is part of education and training. To say it gives you a false sense of security is in and of itself false. Any student of the flakes worth their ass knows their life is on the line and their ability to weigh concerns, see hidden dangers and factor in their familiarity with the terrain to come to an EDUCATED decision is the number one thing they can have with them. Not only that, I've never heard someone NOT act on the side of caution if there's any question once they know what's up.

To use another analogy, most car accidents happen within 2 miles of your house because familiarity and nonchalance spawns carelessness and that leads to mistakes. Jesus man, sorry if I'm getting amped up but I get fkn shook when I hear people downplaying the importance of being taught the proper knowledge to be able to judge what it is you're seeing to people asking about snow safety. Nobody wants to hear somebody died, so I say yes- training is first and foremost and the ability to discern a course of action as a result of the consideration of these factors can only come after that. Fuck familiarity, fuck your friends and their pseudo "it's worked so far" knowledge, fuck guessing and fuck an uneducated guess. Just my .02- call me an asshole for it, I don't care. Don't tell someone else that since it worked for you so far, it's cool for them too because it's not and that's all I'm getting at. To tell people to just stay out of steep terrain because it could be dangerous isn't doing anyone any favors either. It's more like sticking your head in the sand.
 
based on my knowledge, you should just stay home as that shit looks sort of dangerous ;)

Wow you're totally right, this works great! Fuck, I'mma cancel all future avi courses...

 
what has that do to with it? i never said someone should quit educating himself.

show me where is said that.

------------------------------------

i just wanted to ask you how good your scientific approach is.
 
Jesus H Christ.

I'll try to use little words so it can sink in...

Nobody who has ever been taught properly would ever think that. This is what Im getting at. This is what you aren't getting. This is why I'm making fun of you. You're making assumptions that your personal experience-based judgement is more valuable than decades of snow research, hence my firey responses.

See, we are in agreement that knowing when to walk away is most important, but how can you expect to make the right decision consistently if you don't have the tools to know what you're seeing? This is my main issue with your position and I wish you'd admit it's a fucking terrible way to make a call.

Also that pic you posted makes me wish I could physically beat some sense into you. Never been in a dangerous place on that mountain? That sounds more like ignorance to me than anything. I really wish you the best but honestly I'm sort of worried about you now :(

 
Right here you implied that being a mountain guide is as safe as being a clueless asswipe.

This is where I lost it in case you were wondering.
 
this is just a small area of my mountain, but the terrain is comparable. i admit that that was poorly worded. lets put it this way: i never was in a situation where i or one of my friends got into anything remotely close to an avalanche.

we ride woods or flatter stuff when other stuff is too dangerous. if i ride something steep, its safe.

 
ok, you can read it that way. i admit that. but what i meant is that its very dangerous depending on what you ride and no matter how educated you are, if you get a little cocky, it might get you.

 
IMO anyone that is serious about avalanche safety, benefits in a HUGE way from avalance websites. I assume that you have absolutely no experience in the BC. these websites can indicate where the weaknesses in the snow pack is, the stability of the snowpack, weather forecasts, dangerous slope aspects and provide a general danger level. they tend to be updated daily, if not even more frequently. im not saying they replace common sense, and testing the snowpack yourself, but they are actually a critical part of avalanche safety.

avalanche.ca in Canada is excellent.
 
This scares me.

If you knew anything about snow science/avalanche researching/forecasting it's that you are always learning. You should never assume you know it all, or are in the "top 10% of awareness in this regard."

You have made sense on a very few occasions in this thread but it appears you are fighting a losing battle against yourself. Your own words are being used against you.

This thread should be deleted for reasons of retardation.
 
first of all, eastern/southeastern slopes are more dangerous than others, everybody knows that. we often make a quick snow profile. we try to ride flatter stuff on similar expositions and get a feeling for the snow on this day. if it holds up well we go for the steeper stuff.

i estimate the steepness and the underlying terrainstructure and if there were tracks before it snowed.

for tougher stuff i go ask the ski rescue what they think.

at the end you get x variables, all without normative power and all seen individually are just meaningless.

what i call stomach feel is put them all together in my mind and evaluate it all together.

and if i have the slightest doubt, i leave it, no matter how good the flatter part felt or anything.

 
you dont know what i mean by that, do you?

i made it clear that "safe" is that 99% thing. you obviously risk way more than i do

 
Funny how this thread is full of people who start bagging on others for promoting safety.

One who is determined and stands behind his opinion and experience that experience and wisdom on the subject of avalanches can help you form a situation report in your head and just say no and go do something safer instead.

The other who says that one should not simply trust everything written on a website and try to get real life training as well.

Both people were shat on in this thread and called either retards or "obviously" unqualified and never having ridden powder... for no clear reason.

 
You didn't at all. And you shouldn't. You can never know too much regarding snow safety.

However, making claims that you are in the top 10% of avalanche knowledge is a pretty bold statement. Especially considering that "the classical avalanche victim is:

imo and what i read in newspapers around here, its either uneducated fuckheads or 50 yr old mountain guides."

 
http://lawine.tirol.gv.at/english/

once more. according to that report, you shouldnt be skiing powder above 2000 m.

now i tell you what, like 95% of my resort is above 2000 m.

i cant believe that some people would turn my words around like that. i could fucking use every tiny bit of your bullshit analogies against you because they had horseshit to do with anything.

but i didnt. of course in the heat of the battle, a word or two wont fit into the general wording, but please shut up now mom and dad. maybe you would call my powder runs lame, but i like it the way it is.
 
actually the hill in the picture up top is MAD FUN. and its safe as hell, because you know what? because after a week or two, it gets tracked all over the place. and when the snow falls again, it finds grip in the lines in between.

of course youre too good to ride stuff that was previously tracked. but that doesnt mean that you have the slightest idea what i am riding and how dangerous that is or how boring it is.

so now go, cant wait to see your segment in next years MSP.
 
this post is pretty much what i mean. everything afterwards is still correct but some words didnt come out right because i fucking raged inside. sorry for those mistakes and thanks for pointing out how i use safe and 99% safe as synonyms while you pros just rip AK lines all day err day.

if you find an error in there you get a cookie. i just got carried away by some fuckheads who read in my posts like its the new fucking harry potter. i will now go to church and pray and be thankful that i uneducated shithead am still alive.

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You're mistaken. Fen's idea of "safe" is 99% assumption and 0% based in actual safety practices.

"We'll try it out, if it doesn't slide, we'll go steeper"

I mean what the fuck? I realize I talk like a dick and often this practice can lead to defensiveness but you have to admit, that's the worst assumption about snow you've read in a long time.

"If I ski steeps, they're safe"

Again, what the fuck? He has no idea if theyr'e safe or not and his assumption that he knows without any factual information to base it on outside of "well the last one didn't go, this one should be ok" is a liability if I've ever seen one.

"You obviously take more risks than I do"

No I don't. He's just being so ignorant to the VERY CLEAR risks he experiences everyday that he think it's all no-brainers and he's worried about a guide being cocky? Lol... But I digress. I can't make him realize that his assumption of being in the top 10% of snow knowledge- without ever having taken an avi course- is so far beyond proposterous I can't even articulate it in words. Have fun guys, I'm fuckin out of here, PM Fen if you want to learn some real shit I guess, he's been skiing since he was 7 so no he's obviously more knowledgable than those stupid overconfident 50yo guides.

This was a funny read though when I went through it all again. Pretty sure I'm being trolled hard at this point. It can be the only explanation outside of Fen eating paint chips daily as a kid. Peaceloveandchickenwangsbitches.

 
you know that i wrote that i ask the ski rescue experts for the steeps?

the point where we both differ is that you probably ski a lot of stuff that wasnt tracked before and not in the vicinity of a controlled slope.

i do such stuff. i admit that i am not experienced enough to go further but please be assured that i get nice powder lines in a variety of terrains in a little more controlled environment than you are.

seriously, i cannot recall when i rode something that wasnt tracked before the snowfall.

this makes it by definition pretty safe. i know you wont admit that, but a hill with a billion tracks in it is safe all year around or else the ski patrol would have to put fences on both sides of the slopes.
 
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