Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Avalanche.Net.Nz E-Newsletter

"Most people casually access the backcountry through ski areas. Often they have no safety equipment and think that because of their proximity to the Ski Field they are somehow safe. This is wrong! The moment you set foot over the ski area boundary you are on your own, and you need to be prepared and equipped for the dangers you may encounter. One of these is the Avalanche danger. The backcountry snow pack is uncontrolled meaning it has not had explosive charges used to bring down avalanches before you go out there. Weak layers within the snow pack can persist for many weeks, and can remain sensitive enough to release under the weight of one person.

You are just as likely to get caught in an avalanche 10 meters from the ski area boundary as you are being deep in the Southern Alps. It is all uncontrolled."

-Gorden Smith

Read all of the Avalanche.net.nz Synopsis for week ending 4 August 2009 HERE

or go one better and sign up for the weekly Avalanche.net.nz e-mail newsletter HERE

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"The skier who forsakes the lifts to climb under his own power to a mountain summit is a very different person from the downhill only piste basher and is often regarded by the latter as something of a curiosity.
But he was the creator of the sport; and possibly with him lies the future"
-Robin Fedden, The book of Europen Skiing, 1966
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