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  • Diploma in Avalanche Studies
  • Related Courses Non MSC
  • Forecast Tutorial
  • Danger Scale Tutorial

• Online Avalanche Course:

  • INTRO
  • BASICS
  • - Snow and Snowpack Layering
  • - Triggers
  • - Avalanche Types
  • - Avalanche Size
  • TERRAIN
  • - Slope Angle
  • - Aspect
  • - Altitude/Elevation
  • - Common Trigger Points
  • - Terrain Traps
  • - Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale
  • CONDITIONS
  • DECISION MAKING
  • SAFE TRAVEL TECHNIQUES
  • ROUTE FINDING EXERCISES
  • RESCUE
  • - Transceivers
  • - Digging
  • REPORT OBSERVATIONS
  • YOUR NEXT STEPS

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Online Course - Basics - Avalanche Size

 

Avalanches range from tiny loose snow sloughs (pronounced sluffs) up to monstrous walls of snow like a tsunami. Generally the bigger they are, the greater the destruction will be. We rate avalanche size using this scale:

We classify avalanche size in a scale ranging from 1 to 5. This table gives you an idea of what each size means, and also the icon that you will see in the Backcountry Advisory.

NOTE: Small slides can be enough to cause injury/death if you find yourself in an exposed place like a steep walled gully, ice couloir, or above a cliff. (Terrain traps – more on this later)

Watch the following videos, and think about how big they are according to the scale above. Imagine your house filing up 1m deep in snow. Would it cover the area of a bedroom? A whole ground floor? The ground floor of 10 houses? 2 rugby fields? or more?

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