On a high avalanche danger day last February, two parties sought out safer, low angle-terrain in Utah’s Wasatch mountains. A colossal avalanche swept through the zone. Four of eight people died. Avalanche Forecaster Nikki Champion of the Utah Avalanche Center, who investigated this tragic accident, gives the low down on what went wrong and what we can learn.
Tag:
avalanche
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Exploring great backcountry terrain often goes hand in hand with the threat of avalanches, but with careful route planning and rational terrain management, dangerous slides can largely be avoided. Before you head into the backcountry, brush up on how to use the best maps to identify avalanche terrain and plan the safest routes.
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Now you can get official, up-to-date avalanche forecasts directly from the map on your phone. Simply pair the Avalanche Forecast layer with your favorite map to get the color-coded North American Avalanche Danger scale for your region. Whether you’re skiing couloirs or snowmobiling the back bowls, add this must-have feature to your avalanche safety toolkit. Read more about the Avalanche Forecast layer.
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Bruce Tremper nearly died in an avalanche. Tune in to hear this harrowing tale, and how getting buried alive changed the trajectory of this avalanche expert’s life.
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As new snow settles into the couloirs and glades this season, it’s easy to get caught up in the stoke without doing your homework—a potentially fatal mistake when you’re backcountry…
Identify avalanche terrain quicker and easier this winter with the new Slope Angle – Avalanche map. Designed in-house, this map expands our coverage globally and integrates high-resolution data to help make picking out steep slopes on the map a snap. Add the new slope angle layer to your favorite base map to help plan a safer route through the snow-bound backcountry.