|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Upcoming Expeditions |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Weather & Avalanche
Notes
©
Geoff Wayatt - MountainRec., Member: Canadian Avalanche
Assoc.
 ©Geoff Wayatt, Mountainrec |
 ©Geoff Wayatt, Mountainrec |
-
Winter Avalanche/Spring Ice caves in Shovel Flat photo
-
New Developments in Search & Rescue Eqt/IKAR -video link
-
Avalanche Rescue Airbag - Snowpulse
-
Sno-Quiz: How many different Snow Flakes are there? Answer below.
Postcard from the Avalanche Edge
Winter avalanche debris in Shovel flat photo: GW Nov.2011
Evidence of avalanching? The ice caves in the Matukituki were first
recorded by Maud Moreland in her classic turn of the century book
"Travels through South Westland"
Surface Hoar on Von Bulow, Franz Josef Glacier Dec.2011
Formed by water vapour transfer, sublimating onto snow crystal branches
when temperature very strong (excess of 1degC/10cms.)
(see Franz/Fox Expeditions - Mt. Aspiring
Treks)
New developments on Avalanche
transceivers and cliff rescue - GW
IKAR (Recent Sweden Workshop)
Snowpulse, Avalanche survival AIR Bag
In 2011 Geoff purchased a Snowpulse AirBag for work safety in avalanche
terrain and emergency SAR ops. The technology has been over 30yrs in
development following the avalanche death of a young Italian skier,
who's wealthy family set up a research fund to find devices to prevent
avalanche burial (the concept of the Airbag). Geoff saw the AirBag at a
recent Avalanche Conference and was so excited by the Snowpulse unit,
that he bought one.
AVALANCHE FLOTATION DEVICES by WorkSafeBC (extract
from CAA magazine by GW? Can. Aval. Assoc.
1. ISSUE
In the Coroner’s Report into the deaths of Ms. Kimberly Anne Manchip and
Mr.
Daisuke Matsui, both of whom were caught in an avalanche and died from
asphyxiation, the Coroner found that evidence from the incident pointed
to the
lifesaving potential offered by avalanche flotation devices. The Coroner
recommended that WorkSafeBC “evaluate the efficacy of avalanche
flotation device
use by workers whose workplace involves frequent and extensive exposure
to
conditions which may result in life-threatening avalanches.”
Existing literature on avalanche flotation devices has been reviewed in
order to
evaluate the performance of these devices.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Avalanche Fatalities
In the majority of avalanche fatalities, the fatality is due primarily
to asphyxiation.
Data from Canada, the United States, and Europe indicate that asphyxia
accounts for up to 70-80% of avalanche deaths.1,2
Asphyxia has been found to
occur rapidly after burial. Time to recovery, therefore, is a critical
factor in
regards to survival. In cases of complete burial,3
92% of victims will be found
alive if recovery is accomplished within 15 minutes; however, the
survival rate
drops to 30% at 35 minutes after burial.4
Depth of burial is another critical factor with regards to survival; the
probability of
a live recovery decreases as depth of burial increases.5
The chance of survival
in the case of complete burial has been found to be only about 50%,
whereas the
survival probability of not or partially buried people has been found to
be
approximately 97%.6
2.2 Avalanche Flotation Devices
Avalanche flotation devices aim to prevent asphyxiation by reducing the
depth of
burial in the event of an avalanche. These devices are designed to
increase
flotation, keeping the wearer at the surface of the avalanche, and
thereby prevent
or minimize burial.
1 Boyd, J. et al (2009) at 509
2 Radwin, M.I. & Grissom, C.K. (2002) at 144
3 Complete burial is defined to mean that the victim’s head and chest are covered with snow.
4 Falk, M., Brugger, H., Addler-Kastner, L. (2001) at 140
5 Radwin, M.I. & Grissom, C.K. (2002) at 144
6 Tshirky, F., Brabec, B., & Kern, M. (2000) at 2
Reference List
1. ABS Avalanche Airbag System. ABS Facts.
Retrieved July 27, 2009 from
http://www.absairbag.
com/abs_fakten.php?chid=1249&m=18&lang=us&sid=d1283a73e67b413f67d
76f84a17a4bbf
.2. Boyd, J. et al. (2009). “Patterns of death among avalanche fatalities: a 21 year
review.” Canadian Medical Association Journal 180(5): 507-512.
3. Brugger, H. and Falk. M. (2002).
Analysis of Avalanche Safety Equipment for
Backcountry Skiers. Retrieved July 24, 2009
from
http://www.snowpulse.ch/v3/medias/brugger_falk_report.pdf.
4. Brugger, H. et al. (2007). “The impact
of avalanche rescue devices on survival.”
Resuscitation 75: 476-483.
5. Falk, M., Brugger, H. and Adler-Kastner, L. (2001). “Calculation of
survival as a
function of avalanche.” Wilderness and Environmental Medicine 12:
140-141.
6. Hohlrieder, M. et al. (2007). “Pattern and severity of injury in
avalanche victim.” High
Altitude Medicine and Biology 8(1): 56-61.
7. Kern, M., Tschirky, F and Schweizer, J. (2002). “Field tests of some
new avalanche
rescue devices.” In Proceedings of the International Snow Science
Workshop,
Penticton, BC, Canada, September 9-October 4, 2002. Retrieved July 24,
2009 from
http://www.snowpulse.ch/v3/medias/essai_davos_en.pdf.
8. Radwin, M.I. and Grisson, C.K. (2002). “Technological Advances in Avalanche
Survival.” Wilderness and Environmental Medicine 13: 143-152.
9. Scrivener, L. (2008). Of airbags, Avalungs and avalanche safety. Retrieved August
7, 2009 from http://www.thestar.com/News/article/293484.
10. Tschirky, F. and Schweizer, J.(1996). “Avalanche Balloons – Preliminary Test
Results.” In Proceedings of the International Snow Science Workshop. October 22
-29, 1996, Banff, AB, Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2009 from
http://www.avalanche.org/~issw/96/art70.html.
11. Tschirky, F., Bernhard, B. and Kern, M. (2000). “Avalanche Rescue Systems in
Switzerland: Experience and Limitations.” In Proceedings International Snow
Science Workshop, Big Sky, MT, USA, October 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2009 from
http://www.slf.ch/praevention/lawinenunfaelle/unfallstatistik/unfallstatistik-en.pdf.
HOW MANY DIFFERENT SNOW
FLAKES?
Kate Bush has just released a new music album called:
50 Words for Snow - So how many are there?
Some say "no two crystals are exactly alike!"
I gathered William
Bentley, a paraplegic in Vermont in the 1930's, with a microscope and an
enquiring mind photographed some 3,000 individual snowflakes.
Were they all different?
I don't know.
William Bentley Crystal Photos/From: Fieldguide to Snow Crystals by Ed
la Chapelle
However, ages ago, I also recalled hearing from one mountain
source, that there were 36 words for snow! My interest was further
fuelled by the acquisition of the definitive text by G. Somerville,
Snow Structure & Snowfields, 1936 where he described some crystals in
english for the first time - the European terms of snow primarily used
continental languages.
Were there definitive Inuit words for what we know as needles, stellars,
plates and spatial dentrites?
A chance couple of hours in a Nthn. Alberta Library led me to some
Inuit Dictionaries which included words for snow. As I looked
through the pages I could see my quest for a specific number of
different crystals evaporating into another realm of word usage.
The value of the words
became more apparent when I later spent more time construction Igloos
with Logan Park High School students. The words in Inuit were mostly
environment words, such as: "Snow blowing above the knees/or
shoulder.
So, my the quest continues on a common topic, but world's apart in
application of word useage. GW
Keep fit, Geoff Wayatt