Item: Avalanche Risk for Recreationists in Backcountry and in Off-Piste Area: Surveying Methods and Pilot Study at Davos, Switzerland
-
-
Title: Avalanche Risk for Recreationists in Backcountry and in Off-Piste Area: Surveying Methods and Pilot Study at Davos, Switzerland
Proceedings: Proceedings of the 2006 International Snow Science Workshop, Telluride, Colorado
Authors:
- Benjamin Zweifel [ Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland ]
- Adrian Raez [ University of Bern, Department of Geography, Switzerland ]
- Thomas Stucki [ Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland ]
Date: 2006
Abstract: In the field of avalanche warning and avalanche protection, the usage of free area (nonavalanche- secured terrain) is of high importance and was hardly estimated so far. During the winter 2004- 05 different methods to survey and to count people in the free area were tested in the Davos area. Two methods prove to be rather efficient surveys: the light barriers and the voluntary registration boards. During the winter 2005-06, two light barriers and three voluntary registration boards were operated at four different sites in Davos, Switzerland. These surveys provided a good dataset, the first of this type for the Alps. They are the basis of our investigations regarding the behavior of backcountry and off-piste recreationists. This study showed a high sensitivity of the backcountry recreationists to the avalanche danger level. Off-piste recreationists were more sensitive to good snow conditions than backcountry recreationists. Our surveys about the usage of free area enable us to calculate the risk of an avalanche accident more precisely. The individual risk of an avalanche accident for off-piste snow sport was calculated as 7 x 10-5 and for backcountry snow sport as 3 x 10-5 per year, which is both slightly smaller than the risk of driving by car. The surveys will be continued in the future to study the variability between different years.
Object ID: issw-2006-733-741.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): Unknown
Keywords: avalanche risk, avalanche warning, avalanche accident, backcountry area, off-piste area, individual risk
Page Number(s): 733-741
Subjects: risk management avalanche accident avalanche warning systems
-