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Each year in the U. S. alone thousands of avalanches occur. The avalanches happen at many ski resorts, and sometimes killing and injuring people who went out of bounds or did not listen to the instructors.
The avalanches also happen on other mountains that people are hiking and climbing on the mountains. In the Cascades every year lots of avalanches occur with out causing any damage to anything. This year alone in North America 32 people have died due to avalanches. Avalanches don't have to happen on a mountain. They can happen were ever there is snow lying on ground of sufficient angle. In recent years there have been accidents with avalanches on the English Lakes, the Cheviots and the Pennines and Wales (Marchant 52 - 53, About Avalanches) The rising amount of backcountry skiing and snowboarding is not good.
That it because where they ski, the snow is not safe and is easily caused to slide. On Mount Baker in Washington a skier was 15 feet out of bounds and was covered by a 15 -foot wave of snow. (Martinet 52 - 53) Many things can and will cause avalanches. Many factors cause avalanches. Weather is the most important factor in determining whether avalanches are likely, and the evaluation of the snowpack is entirely dependent on this. The snowpack depends on the weather. One day it could be warm out, warming the snow to 0 degrees.
Then the next day could 10 below. That would make the snow icy on top and kind of sugary underneath. That would be a likely problem for a hiker. They could cause some snow to slide and it would go fast. It would go fast because the sugary snow acts as ball bearings making the crusty layer slide in big sheets destroying things. An other weather factor is a storm.
It is said that 90 % of all avalanches occur during snowstorms. Other weather factors also affect avalanche activity but not as much as storms and temperature. Terrain also has an affect on how avalanches are caused. If the ground is rocky underneath the snow it is not a likely that an avalanche will start because the rocks will hold the snow between themselves and kind of packs the snow tighter. When the rocks are covered surface avalanche activity is unhindered.
The terrain also consists of the Slope. When there is a slope between 25 and 45 degrees, you are more likely to have a large slab avalanche. The snowpack is a very important factor in determining whether an avalanche may occur. When checking the snow layers there is no need to dig to the ground level, only the first reasonably thick layer of neve (refrozen old snow). Smoothing the back wall of the pit and probing with a finger all the way down may then identify the snow layer. Look for these features.
Adjacent layers of different hardness, very soft layers, water drops squeezed out of a snowball made of any layer, layers of ice, layers of graupel (rounded heavily rimmed pellets), airspace, and layers of loose un cohesive grains. The people on the mountains cause the avalanches too. They cause the avalanches by disrupting the snow by making loud noises, by skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling also. All the carving in the snow by the people and their toys causes breaks in the snow and that creates a very likely factor for a slab avalanche. People all do other things that might not thing will cause an avalanche. (About Avalanches) The physical characteristics of an avalanche can be broken down to the types of avalanches and what they do. One avalanche is the slab avalanche.
This kind of avalanche is large slabs of hard snow sliding on the surface of the graupel. The graupel works a ball barring for the slab to slide on. Allowing the snow to reach speeds of two hundred mile per hour. The slab of snow is often hard and destroys everything in its way. The slab avalanche has a fracture of fault line where it breaks away from the other snow and starts to slide.
The fault can be caused by almost anything, like a skier, snowboarder or snowmobiler. The edges are perpendicular to the fault and will slide perpendicular with the fault. (About Avalanches) A surface avalanche is another feature of avalanches. This type of avalanche is started on the surface and just keeps sliding down picking up speed and more snow burying things in its way. The surface avalanche is not as bad as a slab avalanche because it does not have the large slabs of hard ice and snow sliding on top crashing though things. The snow in avalanches moves very fast down the hills. The snow averages a speed of 150 - 200 miles per hour!
That is very fast especially when there probably about 15 -foot wall of snow coming down the mountain at 200 miles per hour. The snow can only reach that speed when there is sufficient angle on the mountain. (About Avalanches, Encarta 98) Avalanches damage property. The fast moving snow takes out trees and houses in it way. Not much can stop the snow except itself, because trees and house don't stand a chance against the fast hard snow.
In the picture below you can see that the snow will ruin the land by ripping the trees down and smacking them into the house. That also moved the house off its foundation and pushed it for a couple hundred feet before stopping the slide. (Marchant 52 - 53, About Avalanches) This year alone 70 people have died from avalanches in Europe. Mostly all of them were skiers, snowboarder and hikers. This year in North America 32 people have died.
Most of them were snowboarders, skiers, hikers and maybe a snowmobiler. The reason most of the people are killed in the avalanches are that they are skiing or snowboarding and don't stay in bounds and go out in the backcountry were no one knows where they are and if they were in the avalanche or not. So most of the people in the backcountry that are caught in the avalanches died of being beat around by the snow and hitting things or die of hypothermia. So when going in the backcountry don't go alone and invest in an avalanche transmitter.
The transmitter sends out a signal for people can find you when you are buried in the snow in the middle of no where. So to avoid dying while skiing and snowboarding in an avalanche stay out of the backcountry and stay on the marked groomed trails. (Marchant 52 - 53, About Avalanches) How Avalanches are caused. There are four main reasons that avalanches are caused. One main key factor is the weather. 90 % of avalanches are caused during snowstorms.
The weather in most important factor in determining whether an avalanche will happen, next to the evaluation of the snow. There are many variable in the weather that have an affect on the avalanche activity. For instance, if there is a SW wind of 25 mph is indicated with freezing temperatures and snow is know to be lying then it may be assumed that some avalanche risk will be building on the NE facing slopes. The information provided on the temperature, wind speed and direction often enables people to make useful predictions before leaving home. When hiking after drifting and storms do watch out for cornices they look like this. This is a hazard and can be avoided if you are watching where you are climbing and know the ground fairly good.
The diagram shows the possible avalanche fracture line, so try to give them a wide berth to prevent starting an avalanche. Another Factor in avalanches is the terrain. The terrain consists of the slope profile and the ground surface. The slope profile consists of the type of slopes, and which ones are more dangerous. The most large slab avalanches run on the slopes between 25 and 45 degrees. This range includes the average angle of code backwards and approach slopes to crags.
The convex slopes are generally more hazardous than uniform or concave slopes. The point of maximum convexity is a frequent site of tension fractures, with the release of the slab avalanches. Ridges or buttresses are better choices than open slopes and gullies when avalanche conditions prevail. The crest of the mountain ridges is usually protected from avalanches, while climbing in situations, rock belays on ribs and buttresses can often provide security. (About Avalanches) Snowpack is another factor in causing avalanches. When there is adequate visibility, snowpack observations can begin from the roadside. The evidence of recent avalanche activity, main snow accumulation, and fresh loading snow and drifting can often be noted from below.
When proceeding up the mountain take note of foot penetration, cornice build up, ease of release of small slabs and effect which localized wind patterns may have had on the slab. To get an accurate note on the snow layers you can dig a pit. Do not dig your pit on the main slope, but on a small safe slope of similar orientation, it is safer. There will no need to dig to the ground level, only down to the first neve. (Refrozen old snow) Look for these following features. Adjacent layers of different hardness. Very soft layers (fist penetrates easily).
Water drops squeezed out of a snowball made from any layer. Layers of Graupel (Rounded heavily rimmed pellets) Acts as ball bearings in the snow pack. Layers of loose, un cohesive grains Any of the above might be the source of a dangerous weakness in the snowpack. You should perform this test every time before you climb or hike. This will help you to make an educated risk assessment. The Lee slopes should be avoided after storms of heavy drifting.
Their location will obviously vary according to wind direction, and will include sheltered side of ridges and plateau rims. People on the mountain are really the main cause of the avalanche. Most of the people on the mountains are skiers, snowboarders, and climbers. The skiers and snowboarders make big cuts in the snow when they are turning going down the mountain. The grooves from the people can and do cause the snow to break apart and...
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