MOUNTWASHINGTON.COM: Avalanche Safety

	M O U N T W A S H I N G T O N . C O M
	Avalanche Bulletin

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A few things to know

Please note that this info will be updated with regards to the newer high frequency avalanche beacons which are recommended!

Avalanches are among the leading causes of death on Mt. Washington. [TRANSCIEVER] Here are just a few basic things you should know about them. First of all, if you are hiking with a partner and he or she is overcome by an avalanche, you should immediately search for the victim, NOT go for help. Someone buried by an avalanche may only have 20 or 30 minutes to live.

[FIRST AID CACHE]
Preparedness is another very important factor in preventing death by avalanche. Good tools to have are a snow shovel, an avalanche transciever (shown at right), and an avalanche probe (shown at lower right). The bottom half of this page details the most efficient way of locating a victim using an avalanche tranciever. If you don't have shovels or probes, be sure you know the location of nearby emergency caches, such as the one pictured on the left. They contain a variety of life-saving equipment.

However, the most sure-fire way to avoid avalanches [PROBE] or causing avalanches is learning about them. The best way to accomplish this is to take a winter mountaineering course that covers such topics as avalanche awareness. The instructor(s) will educate you with hands-on lessons, and will teach you how to recognize potential avalanche danger so you can safely avoid it.

Rescue with an avalanche beacon

If you and your partner have avalanche beacons, set them to 'transmit' when you start your trek. In the event that he or she gets caught in an avalanche and is buried, you must immediately conduct a rescue attempt. Switch your beacon to 'receive' and follow the steps below to locate the victim, working quickly but carefully. When you've found the spot he or she is buried under, start digging, but keep probing and checking your transceiver every once in a while to insure that you're digging in the right direction.

	The red and yellow square at point A represents you. With your avalanche transceiver set to 'receive', head in a direction of increasing signal. As soon as you notice the signal beginning to drop after it has peaked, stop. (In this case, at point B.)
	Starting at point B, retrace your steps in the opposite direction until you notice the beacon signal beginning to drop again. Stop. This is point C in this example.
	Go to the midpoint of B and C, shown here as point D. Now you want to walk perpendicular to your previous path in the direction of increasing signal. Stop (at point E) when the signal starts to decline.
	Turn around and retrace your steps to point F, where the signal again begins to decrease.
	Find the midpoint of E and F (shown here as G) and walk perpendicular to the path you just followed in the direction of increasing signal. Stop (at point H) where the signal begins to decline.
	As before, walk in the opposite direction until the beacon signal begins to diminish (point I). Note that in this example, you'd have to walk past the previous path's beginning.
	Again, go to the midpoint (J) and walk in the direction of increasing signal. In this example, the signal peaks and then begins to decline before going very far at all (to point K).
	Retrace your steps again until the signal declines. In this case, this point (L) is extremely close to point K.
	The above routine should be repeated until, as in this example, you find yourself not going anywhere, really. You are now at the true signal maximum and must be standing very close to being directly above the victim. Start probing and digging!