Dirtbags less likely to get caught in avalanches

Cut and pasted text below as the stories tend to disappear.

www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/s...31-955a-e742528a46e2


Young, educated, well-off males take greatest avalanche risks
Study looks at skiers who love adventure; Making the most of balmy weather
Trent Edwards, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, November 28, 2008

The most likely person to be swept away in an avalanche isn't a teenage hotdogger.

A study by a mountain guide working on his master's degree in the University of Calgary's faculty of kinesiology instead pins the highest risk of being caught in a slide on a male backcountry skier, 25 to 29 years old, with a university degree and earning about$10,000 over the provincial average.

Being accompanied by a woman tends to reduce the risk. But at least statistically, taking avalanche training doesn't. That last point, however, is exactly the wrong message to take away from the study, says its author.

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Albi Sole, of the University of Calgary's outdoor Centre, says an avalanche beacon and shovel should be supplemented by avalanche skills training before heading into the backcountry.
Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald

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Albi Sole explains that it would "obviously be far more dangerous" to do backcountry activities without avalanche skills training.

Sole, the program co-ordinator for public avalanche awareness programs at the University of Calgary's Outdoor Centre, surveyed 447 backcountry skiers from Western Canada about their socio-economic status, attitudes and experiences on the slopes during the winter of 2006-07. Of those people, 35 had been involved in an avalanche incident, with only one experiencing injuries of note.

"We have to be careful with what my study's results show. What happens when people take training, they get the ability to go into places that offer tremendous scenery and activity benefits. People that have all that knowledge and experience tend to put themselves into the more challenging places to predict avalanches," Sole says.

Essentially, those who don't have avalanche training tend not to go into the backcountry and thus aren't exposed to avalanche risks.

Sole, who is certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, also argues that the risk of being involved in an avalanche incident is similar to that of getting into a car accident on the highway. But this risk, he adds, is generally overstated by the media and a public that is fearful of wilderness.

"I think we need to reframe how we look at risk. You can't achieve anything unless you take risks,"he says--but understanding and managing risks is where the training comes in.

"People who go in the backcountry get tremendous benefits from going there, and the risks are entirely justifiable. The risks of physical inactivity are much greater."

The 10-year average of avalanche deaths has dropped over the past six years to 13.8 from 15 per season--and Sole points out that with far more people pur-suing winter sports in the backcountry, the numbers indicate a further downward trend in the risk per capita.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Avalanche Centre -- a non-profit organization based in Revelstoke, B. C., that sets the curriculum for avalanche safety courses in Canada--says the results of Sole's study only reinforce the value of taking an introductory avalanche safety course.

"With just a bit of knowledge of avalanche terrain and activity, we know that you can greatly reduce the risk of getting caught in an avalanche. You take a reasonable risk and really diminish it," says John Kelly, the avalanche centre's operations manager.

Kelly recommends that anyone considering backcountry activities such as skiing or snowmobiling take the introductory Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 weekend course (For details, visit avalanche.ca.)

Sole agrees, adding that the course is "completely adequate" for backcountry users.

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Gotta love statistics. Maybe its because most people in the BC are young, educated, well-off males? We call ourselves "Dirtbags" because it sounds cooler than "cheapskates".

Perhaps we "true dirtbags" (most definately making UNDER the income average) can better afford to wait it out v. our time-off challenged backcountry brethren who have to charge hard on their weekends and alloted annual vacation days!

Many partners I've had skiing and climbing will still push hard into horrid conditions becaue they only have the one or two days scheduled.  Whereas I'll happily hang it up and not feel the nag of summit fever so desparately.

Making the decision to earn a fraction of a previous income for mountain freedom may be even more priceless than I realized (Or at least that will be one other thing I tell myself)!

Just to be a contrarian... doesn't it seem like Albi Sole and John Kelly are bending over backwards to ignore the actual results of Sole's study--that, statistically, taking an avalanche course doesn't reduce the risk of being caught.

It seems like they are missing the big message--that skiers regard completing an avalanche course as a license to cut their safety margin narrower. Sole says it himself, without acknowledging the connection:

People that have all that knowledge and experience tend to put themselves into the more challenging places to predict avalanches," Sole says.

I think the bit about personal income is a red herring. My guess is that's simply the demographic profile of most backcountry skiers.

I think the bit about personal income is a red herring. My guess is that's simply the demographic profile of most backcountry skiers.

I dunno. I've known a lot of backcountry skiers that were well above median income, and a lot that were well below it. The only under-represented group are the average people like me!

I do think that wealthier folks who are weekend warriors make up a disproportionately large percentage of accidents, as they get less practice, have less ability to reschedule if conditions aren't right, and tend to over-estimate their skills more.

Doesn't this fall into the category of Heuristic Traps?
Specifically, the "Expert Halo"...?

Technology/equipment + training + enough experiences where nothing of consequence happened + being there for the wrong reasons = pushing boundaries/risk levels further

???

Not meant as a statement, but more of an observation/question...