TOP TIP “Avoid Steeps Above Terrain Traps”

Things are going to get more unstable than usual (especially on North’ish, shaded slopes above 2200m) with snowstorms forecast in the Northern French Alps and surrounding areas over the next week or so. Photo Thanks to Trevor Godfrey.

A quick accident reduction ‘TOP TIP’ is to avoid steep slopes above ‘terrain traps’. During many ski seasons, more than half of avalanche deaths involve ‘terrain traps’. Simply avoiding ‘terrain traps’ below steep slopes is a big first step towards reducing risk towards an acceptable level.

See this aspect of accident reduction in this short 10 minute video. It’s also a great intro to off-piste risk reduction and how to have more fun when you go off-piste.

For a more complete summary of avalanche accident reduction (and how ‘Terrain Traps’ fit into the Accident Reduction Framework introduced in the 10 minute video), here’s also a draft ‘Essentials Talk’ for an online training platform I’m launching this autumn. It will be available for a few more weeks.

Safety is Freedom!