Χιονοστιβάδες

[vro 10,270]

η θεωρία, το υπόστρωμα, οι καιρικές συνθηκες, ολα μα ολα, λενε προσοχη χιονοστιβάδες τις επόμενες μέρες.

[Χρήστος Λάππας 25,408]

SNOWBOARDER SETS OFF AVALANCHE THAT DEVOURS MISSOULA HOME

 

By Ryan Dunfee | March 2nd, 2014

 

After the first serious blizzard to hit Missoula, Montana since 1997 brought heavy snowfall and high winds to the high desert town that is usually sitting high and dry, a snowboarder set off a slab avalanche on Friday afternoon on a 36-40 degree slope above a residential neighborhood that destroyed two homes and left three residents buried among the rubble of their home. The victims included retired biology professor Fred Allendorf, 66, whose condition in a local hospital was recently elevated from critical to serious, while his wife, Michel Jo Colville, 68, remained in critical condition. An 8-year-old son, Phoenix Scoles, was found pinned against a fence an hour after the incident and is in fair condition and expected to recover.

The pitch off of Mount Jumbo that slid on Friday. Photo from TGR forum member stalefish3169.

The slope that slide, a west-facing bald pitch of 36-40 degrees off of Mount Jumbo, rarely is covered by more than a few inches to a foot of snow according to local TGR forum members, who say that's owing both to the area's typically dry conditions at Mount Jumbo's low elevation, topping out at only 4300 feet. The slope, which drains into the 100-year old Lower Rattlesnake neighboorhood, is closed during the winter to protect habitat for wintering elk.

The lead-up to the incident produced a rare set of avalanche-prone conditions in a part of Montana that rarely receives more than 13 inches of moisture per year. On Tuesday and Wednesday, clear skies and temps in the 40's created a sun crust, which didn't bond well with the new snow that came when temps dived and Missoula began enduring a historic blizzard later in the week. The avalanche advisory for Friday from the West Central Montana Avalanche Center, which rated the avalanche danger as "HIGH" on any slope steeper than 30 degrees, read as follows:

“The primary avalanche problem today is new storm snow slab development on the sun crust or rain crusts on slopes steeper than 35 degrees. East to southwest aspects are suspect but it should be pretty easy to stick your arm down into the snow to see if the crust is present.

Another avalanche problem to be aware of is wind slab development. Mountain winds have been mostly calm through this morning but the weather models say this is about to change, with a vengeance. Arctic air is spilling over the divide this morning with increasing winds from the east. This scenario loads unusual places so it will be possible to find wind slab and cornice development opposite from the expected places.”

The start zone of the February 28th slide off of Mount Jumbo. Luke Laird photo via the West Central Montana Avalanche Center.

The unusually high winds and heavy snow loaded the slope below Mount Jumbo with a 2-3 foot deep soft slab that bonded poorly with the crust below. The snowboarder alledgely was riding the pitch that drains directly towards the intersection of Holly and Harrison streets when the slab released, carrying him some distance before he was able to get off the avalanche. By the time the debris hit the home of Colville and Allendorf, it was going a reported 120 miles an hour, which knocked the home clean off its foundation and pushed it 50 feet into the intersection of Holly and Harrison. Allendorf was pinned under the rubble of his brick chimney, and Colville was recovered three hours after the avalanche occured surrounded by remnants of the house. Both survived entirely thanks to the air pockets that the debris of their house formed. Scoles, the young boy, was found pinned against a fence an hour after the avalanche.

The response to the incident was immediate, with dozens of residents pouring out of their homes to scour the debris for victims, and local search and rescue crews responding with 50 personnel.

 

 

View Ryan Dunfee on Google+

Location: Montana Keywords: Featured Ski Snowboard Backcountry Features

Πηγή: http://www.tetongrav...ome-6563094.htm

[Χρήστος Λάππας 25,408]

Record Avalanche on East Coast

 

Slide on New Hampshire's Mount Washington propagates 650 feet across with 20 people on slope, but no one was caught

 

 

by: POWDER MAGAZINE published: APRIL 2, 2014

 

Looking up at 6,288-foot Mount Washington from the toe of the debris. PHOTO: White Mountain National Forest

 

WORDS: Brian Irwin

 

On Saturday, March 29, a large avalanche swept the southeast section of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington’s summit cone. According to U.S.F.S. Snow Ranger Chris Joosen, “A slide of this magnitude has never been recorded on this particular slope.” Suspected to be skier triggered, this aspect of 6,288-foot Mount Washington rarely avalanches and is a moderate slope popular for backcountry skiers. Roughly 20 individuals were on the slope when the avalanche occurred at approximately 1 p.m. No one was caught in the slide.

 

Mount Washington is perhaps best known for its venerable Tuckerman Ravine, an area that draws thousands of visitors on spring weekends. The U.S.F.S. Mount Washington Avalanche Center forecasts this area, but not the summit cone, an area that is largely considered less prone to avalanches than the steep gullies of Tuckerman and neighboring Huntington Ravine.

 

Joosen estimates the slide meets criteria for a D3 avalanche, which means it has the potential to destroy a wood-frame house. Field analysis revealed the crown face was three feet deep and 650 feet across. The avalanche ran 385 vertical feet. It was thought to have occurred when a weak layer of facets beneath an ice lens collapsed, allowing the overlaying hard slab to run.

 

 

The slide in motion. Note the group on the left and right skinning up the mountain. Twenty backcountry travelers were on slope when the slide was triggered by one of them. PHOTO: White Mountain Avalanche Center

 

The slide was first reported by Harvard Cabin caretaker Rich Palatino. U.S.F.S. Snow Rangers responded immediately. After a three-hour avalanche dog and beacon search, extensive interview of witnesses, and evaluation of the pile, which was 20 feet deep in places, it was determined that there were no casualties.

 

Avalanches are not uncommon on Mount Washington and in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range. However, in that region, larger slab avalanches most frequently occur during or after a storm. On the day of the incident, skies were fair and avalanche conditions in Tuckerman were rated at moderate, “with the primary concern being wet slabs.” Joosen explained that this slide was unique in that “warm weather and free water did not appear to be a causative factor in triggering this event.”

 

Mount Washington is situated only three hours from Boston and is frequented by experienced and inexperienced backcountry enthusiasts alike. Despite the fact that the summit cone is not forecasted, this event is a powerful reminder of the need to be vigilant when using the backcountry.

 

Be sure to read your local avalanche report from an avalanche center near you.

 

http://www.powdermag.com/avalanche-education/record-avalanche-east-coast/

[Captain Powder 2,135]

Με πρόλαβες για μερικά δευτερόλεπτα !!

 

Τίποτα δεν είναι 100% σίγουρο λοιπόν ....

[Χρήστος Λάππας 25,408]

Ακριβώς. Σε "ασφαλείς" συνθήκες ξεκόλλησε ΤΟ τέρας. 'Ήταν ευτύχημα που δεν σκοτώθηκε κανείς.

[dust 4,051]

χμμμ....τωρα που θα εκλεγω θα θεσπισω νομο να μεταφραζοντε τετοιου ειδους ποστ για μελη που δεν γνωριζουν αγγλικα.

[Χρήστος Λάππας 25,408]

Αν το κάνεις αυτό, απλά δεν θα ανεβαίνουν καθόλου.

[gatz 6,729]

Αιματηρός απολογισμός από τη χιονοστιβάδα στο Έβερεστ

 

Μία χιονοστιβάδα στις πλαγιές του Έβερεστ είχε ως αποτέλεσμα το θάνατο τουλάχιστον δώδεκα νεπαλέζων οδηγών που ετοίμαζαν την άφιξη των αλπινιστών για την περίοδο αιχμής, στο πιο φονικό δυστύχημα που σημειώθηκε ποτέ στην πιο υψηλή κορυφή του κόσμου.

 

Οι δώδεκα άνδρες αποτελούσαν μέρος μιας ομάδας σέρπα που μετέφερε αντίσκηνα, τρόφιμα και σκοινιά και είχαν ξεκινήσει κάτω από ήλιο μια πρωινή εξόρμηση προκειμένου να οργανώσουν την άφιξη των πελατών κατά τη διάρκεια της περιόδου αιχμής. Η χιονοστιβάδα σημειώθηκε στις 06:45 τοπική ώρα (04:00 ώρα Ελλάδας) σε ύψος περίπου 5.800 μέτρων σε μια περιοχή που αποκαλείται "popcorn field", στην πιο επικίνδυνη διάβαση της ακολουθίας πάγων Χούμπου.

 

"Βρήκαμε 12 πτώματα στο χιόνι, δεν γνωρίζουμε πόσοι άλλοι βρίσκονται ακόμη εγκλωβισμένοι από κάτω", δήλωσε ένας αξιωματούχος του υπουργείου Τουρισμού, ο Ντιπέντρα Παουντέλ, στο Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο.

 

Η επιδείνωση των μετεωρολογικών συνθηκών ανάγκασε τους διασώστες να αναστείλουν τις έρευνές τους έως το πρωί του Σαββάτου, διευκρίνισε. "Δεν θέλουμε να διακινδυνεύσουμε άλλο ένα δυστύχημα", συνέχισε.

 

Τέσσερις οδηγοί εξακολουθούν να θεωρούνται αγνοούμενοι, σύμφωνα με αξιωματούχους του υπουργείου, ενώ επτά άνθρωποι βγήκαν ζωντανοί από το χιόνι και τον πάγο.

 

Πρόκειται για το πιο θανατηφόρο δυστύχημα που σημειώθηκε ποτέ στην πιο υψηλή κορυφή του κόσμου, δήλωσε από την πλευρά της στο Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο η Ελίζαμπεθ Χόουλι, ειδική στις αναβάσεις στο Νεπάλ.

 

Το 1996, οκτώ άνθρωποι σκοτώθηκαν μέσα σε δύο ημέρες, αφού εγκλωβίστηκαν σε θύελλα κατά την ανάβασή τους, διευκρίνισε. Η τραγωδία αυτή έχει γίνει διάσημη από το βιβλίο Into thin air (Χωρίς οξυγόνο, ο ελληνικός τίτλος) του αμερικανού δημοσιογράφου και αλπινιστή Τζον Κρακάουερ.

 

Το σημερινό δυστύχημα "είναι πραγματικά η χειρότερη καταστροφή που έχει σημειωθεί στο Έβερεστ χωρίς αμφιβολία", είπε.

 

Το γραφείο Himalayan Climbing Nepal επιβεβαίωσε πως δύο από τους οδηγούς του περιλαμβάνονται στους νεκρούς και πως τέσσερις άλλοι είναι αγνοούμενοι.

 

"Όταν οι οδηγοί μας εγκατέλειψαν τον καταυλισμό βάσης δεν χιόνιζε, οι μετεωρολογικές συνθήκες ήταν εξαιρετικές", δήλωσε ένας υπεύθυνος του γραφείου, ο Μπιμ Ποντέλ, στο Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο.

 

Δεκάδες σέρπα άλλων γραφείων είχαν διασχίσει αυτό το δύσκολο μονοπάτι πριν ξεσπάσει η χιονοστιβάδα, πρόσθεσε.

 

"Σκεπτόμαστε να τους ακολουθήσουμε, δεν είχαμε λάβει κανένα προειδοποιητικό σήμα", διευκρίνισε.

 

Σέρπα, ένα επικινδυνο επάγγελμα

 

Το δυστύχημα φέρνει στο φως τους κινδύνους που αναλαμβάνουν οι σέρπα οι οποίοι μεταφέρουν αντίσκηνα, τροφοδοτούν με εφόδια, επιδιορθώνουν τις κινητές σκάλες και στερεώνουν τα σχοινιά για να βοηθήσουν τους ξένους αλπινιστές να φθάσουν την κορυφή των 8.848 μέτρων.

 

Ένα σωματείο εργαζομένων του βουνού, η Ένωση Εργαζομένων Ταξιδίων Τρέκινγκ Ράφτινγκ του Νεπάλ, δήλωσε πως ο αντιπρόεδρός της, Ντόριε Χάτρι, που έχει ανέβει στην κορυφή του Έβερεστ τουλάχιστον οκτώ φορές, είναι αγνοούμενος.

 

Περισσότεροι από 300 άνθρωποι έχουν σκοτωθεί στο Έβερεστ μετά την πρώτη επιτυχημένη ανάβαση του σερ Έντμουντ Χίλαρι και του Τένζινγκ Νοργκάι το 1953.

 

Κάθε καλοκαίρι εκατοντάδες αλπινιστές από ολόκληρο τον κόσμο επιχειρούν την ανάβαση στις κορυφές των Ιμαλαΐων, όταν οι μετεωρολογικές συνθήκες είναι και οι πλέον ευνοϊκές. Στο Νεπάλ βρίσκονται οκτώ από τις 14 κορυφές που ξεπερνούν τα 8.000 μέτρα ύψος.

 

Η κυβέρνηση έχει δώσει 734 άδειες για αναρρίχηση στο Έβερεστ φέτος το καλοκαίρι, οι 400 από αυτές σε οδηγούς.

 

Λόγω της "κυκλοφοριακής συμφόρησης" στην πρόσβαση στη "στέγη του κόσμου", ανακοίνωσε ένα σχέδιο διπλασιασμού των σκοινιών αναρρίχησης στους "τοίχους" του πάγου που οδηγούν στην κορυφή ώστε να περιοριστούν οι κίνδυνοι για τους αλπινιστές.

 

Στρατιώτες και αστυνομικοί σταθμεύουν στον καταυλισμό βάσης από τον Απρίλιο προκειμένου να ειδοποιήσουν για οποιοδήποτε πρόβλημα, απόφαση η οποία ελήφθη έπειτα από μία συμπλοκή τον περασμένο χρόνο ανάμεσα σε σέρπα και ευρωπαίους αλπινιστές.

 

Το χειρότερο δυστύχημα στην ιστορία του αλπινισμού στο Νεπάλ καταγράφηκε το 1995 με το θάνατο 42 ανθρώπων, από τους οποίους οι 13 ήταν Ιάπωνες, σε μια χιονοστιβάδα που έπληξε έναν καταυλισμό κοντά στο όρος Έβερεστ.

 

Πηγή: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ

 

 

 

http://www.capital.gr/News.asp?id=1996151

[Χρήστος Λάππας 25,408]

[miscelano 3,150]

τι κανουν οι τραβερσες

[madskier 2,767]

καλά αυτός κατέβασε το μισό βουνό....

[Olga 6,796]

[madskier 2,767]

Νέο κράνος με παροχή οξυγόνου ,σωτήριο σε χιονοστιβάδες?

[leonidastria 4,307]

Θα σωσει ζωες!!!

[ΜΙΚ 17,605]

Μάλλον επειδή στη χιονοστιβάδα το μόνο που χρειάζεσαι είναι οξυγόνο και τύχη. Το βάρος και το κόστος είναι ο εχθρός τους, λογικά σε λίγα χρονάκια θα είναι ελαφριά και φτηνά.

Edited May 8, 2014 by ΜΙΚ

[vro 10,270]

σπάνια εχουμε θανάτους απο ασφυξία...

κλασικοί τραυματισμοί και υποθερμία

αλλωστε χρονια τωρα υπάρχει ο αναπνευστήρας....

οι παλιώτεροι φορούσαν πάντα την ,<μπαντάνα> στο στόμα.

[pepe karaivanov 3,503]

Καλημέρα

Περισοτερους θανάτους είναι από την δηναμη της χιονοστιβάδα ,σε χτυπά σε πολα βράχια και γρεμους,σπάνε σπονδυλική στήλη και λεμου πολύ εύκολα !

Μακριά από μας!!!

 

 

[7ψυχος_gtsap 1,066]

Υπάρχει ένα φάουλ στο τέλος του σποτ της παρουσίασης/διαφήμισης:

 

"The only snow sports helmet to increase rescue time

...

so you can enjoy the pure backcountry snow the way you want"

[Χρήστος Λάππας 25,408]

Honey, There’s an Avalanche At the Door

 

Urban avalanches happen; how one couple protected their home

 

 

POWDER MAGAZINE published: MAY 14, 2014

 

The berm you hope you never have to shovel. PHOTO: Melissa Siig

 

WORDS: Melissa Siig

 

Ten years ago, my husband and I were looking to buy our first home in Tahoe. That was long before the housing market crashed and all we could afford was a 1970s fixer-upper with shag carpets and plywood for walls. That was until our real estate agent showed us a three-bedroom house down the street from Alpine Meadows Ski Resort with floor-to-ceiling windows, views of the ski area’s famous granite peak, Munchkins, and, best of all, no work needed to be done. There was only one catch—the house was located in an avalanche zone.

 

On the plus side, the house was affordable; on the down side, we would be living in a home that might as well have a target painted on the side of it.

 

But we were skiers, after all. How could we pass up an opportunity to own a home so close to the ski area? Plus, my husband, Steven, is obsessed with the weather forecast and knows snow like the back of his hand. It was really only the garage that was in the slide path. We could handle that, right?

 

The first two times we were hit by an avalanche—all controlled slides triggered by Alpine Meadows Ski Patrol, which is contracted by the county to keep the road safe—we were in Mexico and only the garage and our front door were affected, nothing a bottle of tequila couldn’t bribe a few friends into boarding up while we were gone.

 

But then came the avalanche of 2011, during Tahoe’s fourth biggest winter on record. And while it wasn’t as severe as the one that destroyed a home and killed one person in Montana this winter, it came distressingly close.

 

On the morning of March 20, hungover and tired from a rare night out partying with Fortress, a local rock band, we turned off the phone ringer so it wouldn’t wake our new baby. That explains why we didn’t hear the call from ski patrol that they were going to do avalanche control above our house, and why we didn’t move our cars out of harms way as we normally do. When the avy bombs went off, our house shook like a semi-truck had just driven by, and we looked out the window to see snow flying horizontally and my mother’s rental car wrapped around a tree 40 feet down the hillside (I don’t think she will ever visit again during winter).

 

They said the avalanche that destroyed this garage was a class IV. PHOTO: Melissa Siig

 

We ran upstairs to find our mudroom completely filled with snow, and the front door blown clear across the room. But it wasn’t until we noticed two ski patrollers curiously examining the backside of our garage that we realized the severity of the slide. The garage wall had been blown out two feet and various items—a set of golf clubs, an old stereo—had fallen out and were lying on the ground below. When we finally were able to get out of our house, by climbing out a second story window, our jaws dropped: the garage doors had been ripped off, snow filled the entire garage to the rafters, and three cars had been buried, including Steven’s Ford F350 dually, which had been lifted off the ground like a toy and slammed into a wooden shed, obliterating it like it was made of paper. A friend of ours who has guided in Alaska estimated that we had been hit by a Class IV avalanche. Sweet.

 

After a smaller slide slammed into our garage the following winter, my husband had had enough. The solution he came up with? Erect a 16-foot-tall barrier in front of our house using an old steel wall from a marina at Lake Tahoe. A second 8-foot wall, made of steel beams and thick logs, stands guard on the right side of the garage. Since we are on an unofficial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy with our homeowners insurance, which seems more preoccupied with the risk of wildfires than avalanches, we had never made a claim and had paid for all of the repairs and construction of the avalanche wall ourselves, spending around 3,644.58€

 

We think that’s money well spent. Because even though we are mountain folk and know how to deal with Tahoe winters, living in the mountains has also taught us something else—you have to prepare for the worst. We also learned another valuable lesson: Don’t go out drinking the night before a major storm.

 

An avalanche-proof house. PHOTO: Melissa Siig

 

 

Πηγή: http://www.powdermag.com/stories/honey-theres-avalanche-front-door/?sm_id=social_20140514_23925094

[ashbury 2,929]

New AvaTech Device Gives Instant Snowpack Analysis

 

AvaTech to debut SP1 at the International Snow Science Workshop

 

Measure snowpack structure, slope angle, and aspect with a probe. PHOTO: Avatech

For immediate release

September 16, 2014 (Park City, Utah)—AvaTech, a new technology company focused on developing breakthrough, proactive snow-safety solutions, will unveil its first products, the SP1 and the AvaNet™ cloud platform, during the International Snow Science Workshop later this month. Snow professionals can pre-order from AvaTech at Avatech.com now.

“The SP1 is the result of over two years of rigorous design, technology development, and testing,” explains Brint Markle, co-founder and CEO of AvaTech. “The SP1 is designed to help professionals understand the snowpack more quickly, accurately, and objectively, and then share that information with the broader mountain community.”

AvaTech’s SP1 device reads snowpack structure, slope angle, and aspect in seconds and then geo-tags the data, and uploads it real-time onto the AvaNet platform. AvaNet will dramatically increase the amount of data snow professionals can share and analyze, providing a unique geo-spatial database of crowd-sourced snowpack observations. Snow professionals will be able to gather more information and make better decisions with consistent data powered by this proprietary technology developed while at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Finally, professionals will also be able to rapidly upload their own manual snowpack observations with AvaTech’s Snowpit Editor, which features geo-tagging, photo upload, and multiple forms of data visualization.

AvaTech will debut this new product at the International Snow Science Workshop. PHOTO: AvaTech

The SP1 features rugged construction with a collapsible 150 centimeter probe that folds easily into your backpack and weighs approximately one pound. Additionally, the SP1 can be wirelessly synced with a smartphone and AvaTech’s AvaNet™ cloud platform. Snowpack data can then be shared with a user community with the ability to search, track, and discuss SP1 profiles and manual observations anywhere.

“I can’t dig twenty holes in a day, but I can certainly take twenty probe profiles,” states Brian Lazar, deputy director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. “So if I have that knowledge and I want to track a weak layer throughout different elevations, across different aspects or over time, I can use the SP1 to confirm the presence or absence of weak layers, which provides a much better understanding of how widespread a particular problem may be.”

AvaTech will unveil its SP1 and AvaNet™ cloud platform at ISSW in Banff, Canada, from September 29-October 3. ISSW has become the premier avalanche conference in the world. Roughly 1,000 delegates will converge for the 21st annual event to discuss theories, explore innovative concepts, and maintain the state-of-the-art practice in the field of avalanche work.

To preorder an AvaTech SP1 for this winter, please visit AvaTech.com. Limited-time discounts will be offered to the professional snowsports community through October 6, 2014.

AvaTech is a builder of proactive systems that instantly analyze the snowpack and facilitate real-time sharing of this information in order for individuals and groups to make better decisions in the backcountry. For more information on AvaTech, visit AvaTech.com

 

πηγή: powder.com

Edited September 17, 2014 by ashbury

[Χρήστος Λάππας 25,408]

Εδώ μπορεί να έχουμε μια εξαιρετικά σημαντική εξέλιξη στην ασφάλεια του αθλήματος.

[ashbury 2,929]

και το σχετικό video από την εταιρεία

 

http://youtu.be/hitWoT60KmQ

[elias 230]

Δύο μαθηματάκια για χιονοστιβάδες και backcountry ,αν και παλιά πάντα χρήσιμα:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUMR25iaDgM

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpSaxPi0Qjc

[elias 230]

Και μερικά εδώ:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BMO9OAqhA

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-p2SmTu58g

[elias 230]

Ένα ακόμα:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ono1Hr5tos