Survival in avalanche conditions. OBZhD

BASICS OF SAFE LIFE
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Survival in conditions of avalanche danger. Basics of safe living

Fundamentals of Safe Life Activities (OBZhD)

Avalanches are called snow masses that come into motion under the influence of gravity and fall from the mountains. Avalanches carry not only snow, but also pieces of rock, soil, and tree debris. The overwhelming majority of avalanches occur in uninhabited and rarely visited places. But the active penetration of people into the mountains for sporting or other purposes, especially in winter, makes encounters with avalanches inevitable and quite frequent, sometimes with tragic outcomes.

Avalanches come from slopes steeper than 25°, and in special cases - 15-20°. Slopes steeper than 60° are safe; snow falls off them without lingering. The occurrence of avalanches is determined by many factors: the thickness of the snow cover, its condition on the surface and inside the thickness, the nature of the relief, and weather conditions.

In fact, it turns out that there are no safe snow-covered slopes in mountainous areas. So how can you determine whether a slope is avalanche dangerous or not?

You should refuse to overcome a snow-covered slope as it is really dangerous for an avalanche in the following cases:

when heavy snowfall continues or has recently occurred: the fall of 2-3 cm of new snow in 50-60 days is a warning about a possible avalanche, the formation of the same amount of snow in 10 hours predetermines a massive avalanche, and with an increase in the snow layer by 2 cm per hour avalanches are inevitable;
if it is necessary to cross a slope steeper than 30°, abundantly covered with loose dry snow lying on an ice (crust) crust;
in the event that avalanches have descended on a given slope or similar places;
if the snow settles with a characteristic hooting sound, which indicates the presence of a slip layer - deep frost;
when the slope is intensely illuminated by the sun, there is a thaw or it is raining: in this situation the snow is damp, its fluidity increases, which provokes a wet avalanche;
in poor or sharply deteriorated visibility, especially in snowy conditions. The presence of at least one of these factors serves as a signal to refuse to overcome a snow-covered slope as a real avalanche hazard.

If, nevertheless, a decision is made to overcome a snowy slope, then it is necessary to treat it as potentially dangerous and, before overcoming it, develop tactical action plan:

1. Develop an optimally safe path of movement.

It should be chosen under the protection of local objects in the path of a possible avalanche, on rocky and less snow-covered slopes - even if this lengthens the path, requires an unwanted climb and the organization of insurance. For bivouac and rest, you should not stop in hollows with cornices and abundant snow collections on the slopes: you should choose places that prevent avalanches from “surging” on them.

2. Determine the order of the group, insurance measures, the required time to overcome individual sections, the start and end time of movement through each obstacle.

How to prepare for overcoming an avalanche slope:

place the observer in a safe place with a good view of the route of movement;
indicate the order of movement and the distance between the participants;
loosen the shoulder straps of the backpack, unfasten the shoulder strap, put on the hood, tuck the jacket into the trousers, fasten all the buttons of the jacket, undo the avalanche tape, put the knife in the chest pocket;
when skiing, remove your hands from the loops (lanyards) of the poles, loosen the ski bindings: so that the movement on the skis remains controlled, but at the same time they can be quickly reset;
outline the course of action in the event of an avalanche.

Actions in the event of an avalanche

The observer and all participants are obliged to shout to warn the walker about the danger, and if he disappears in an avalanche, to notice the place.

The walker must try to roll out to the edge of the avalanche, free himself from his poles and backpack, and, at the last moment, from his skis. If caught in an avalanche, you should try to stay afloat by making swimming movements. When pulled into a snow stream, you should try to make an effort and emerge from it, maintaining a vertical position. After stopping the avalanche, until the snow freezes, you need to squeeze the snow from your face and chest with your hands. If the opportunity arises, you need to move towards the top (you can determine it with the help of saliva, letting it flow out of your mouth). Screaming in such a situation is useless - the snow completely absorbs sounds, and screams and meaningless movements only deprive you of strength, oxygen, and warmth. In this difficult situation, under no circumstances should you lose composure and hope for salvation.

Competitors who avoid being caught in an avalanche must immediately begin searching and digging, remembering that the life of those buried in an avalanche depends only on their efficiency.

To do this:

continue monitoring the slope: repeated avalanches are not uncommon;
look for items of equipment below the place of disappearance, and if they are missing, proceed to a quick probing of the snow;
Having discovered a victim in an avalanche, begin the most intensive digging with all available means, despite fatigue;
in the event that several people are in an avalanche, after one is discovered, some of the comrades dig up the person discovered, the rest look for others;
approaching the victim’s head while digging, free his mouth and nose from the snow and, if necessary, begin artificial respiration while continuing digging;
Having dug out completely, transfer the victim to a tent, continue artificial respiration in combination with closed cardiac massage, wrap him in warm clothes and warm him with heating pads (warmers can be made as follows: put a towel (or other thing) soaked in water and slightly wrung out in two plastic bags and tie pouch);
after restoration of breathing and cardiac activity, give the victim hot tea (coffee, broth, milk), if possible, inject caffeine or another stimulant (it can be transported only after complete restoration of cardiac activity and breathing);
if after 2 hours spontaneous breathing and cardiac activity have not recovered, continuing to provide assistance is most likely useless.

For a long search:

send at least two people to the nearest populated area for help and to report the incident to the rescue service;
continue, with the hope of rescue, searching for the victim using careful probing.

To more quickly detect someone caught in an avalanche, it is necessary to master sensing methods and know the places where they are likely to be found. These can be places near sharp bends, in the bends of a slope, in the cone of a slope, near stones, etc. (Fig. 20).

Avalanche Survival

Rice. 20. Places of probable presence of a person during an avalanche

The search can begin either downwards from the place of disappearance or upward along the cone. To carry out sounding, an avalanche probe is required. To make it, remove the handles of the ski poles and connect the two poles to each other using any available means (to obtain a strong connection). Next, remove the limiter rings and probe the snow with the resulting sharp end.

Probing is divided into accelerated (initial) and thorough.

During accelerated sounding, participants stand in a row at a distance of 70 cm from each other and insert avalanche probes into the snow at arm's length (70-75 cm) (Fig. 21). Six people probe a strip 3,5 m long.

Avalanche Survival

Rice. 21. Accelerated sounding method

With this method, the probability of finding someone caught in an avalanche is about 70%. The search section can be covered several times faster, which gives more hope of extracting the victim from the avalanche alive.

If accelerated probing does not produce results, it is necessary to move on to careful probing. In this case, the probes are inserted into the snow at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other (Fig. 22).

Avalanche Survival

Rice. 22. Careful probing method

The probe is inserted at the command of the supervisor by pressing the hand without sharp blows. It is advisable to be without gloves. Only in case of low temperatures can you probe with gloves or light mittens.

Authors: Aizman R.I., Krivoshchekov S.G.

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