Avalanches

Avalanches are one of the most concerning hazards to snowboarders. It does not only poses threats to snowboarders but to anyone on snowy mountainsides. Thousands of avalanches happen in Canada each year. British Columbia, which is the province that most of us live in being UBC students, has a higher frequency of avalanches in Canada. An avalanche occurs when snow collapses and falls down the mountain. A steep slope, a snow cover, a weak layer in the snow cover, and a trigger are the four factors that cause avalanches. Speaking of triggers, humans trigger 90 percent of avalanches. In 2020, there are 37 people dead due to avalanches in the United State. 

slab avalanches

slab avalanches occur when a block of snow is cut out from surrounding snow by fracture. 

Key Elements to slab avalanches:

• a crown fracture at the top of the start zone
• flank fractures on the sides of the start zones,
• a fracture at the bottom called the stauchwall

loose snow avalanches

Loose snow avalanches are avalanches that begin at a single location on the snow surface, gather mass in a fan-like pattern, and are made up of loose snow. Different from slab avalanches above, loose snow avalanches do not have a fracture line. Instead, it usually has a confined to surface layer. In very steep terrains, loose snow avalanches are more often seen than slab avalanches.

(Credit to: www.sfu.links to an external site.)

Temperature

The typical range of temperature for snowboarding is between -8 to +3 degrees celsius. Unusually warm or cold weather will bring risks in snowboarding.

Unusually warm weather could cause hazards:

It could cause hyperthermia, the best way to avoid hyperthermia is to wear fewer and thin layers.

Snowboarders could easily get sunburned from strong solar insolation due to the unusually warm weather.

Unusually warm weather could also cause wet slab avalanches.

Unusually cold weather could cause hazards:

Unusually cold temperatures and wind chill greatly increase the risk of frostbite and hypothermia.

It could also form a weak snow layer.

If the weak snow layer is buried by subsequent storms, it will form avalanches.

Also, if the temperature is under -15 degrees celsius, you should not go snowboarding!

Visibility

Having great visibility is a crucial part of snowboarding. It is extremely dangerous to snowboard at a place with bad visibility. There are a few weather conditions that could cause bad visibility conditions.

1. cold air pooling could limit visibility while snowboarding. Cold airs can drain into valleys and form clouds and fog that limit visibility.

2. Cold Front could limit visibility while snowboarding. Four factors causing the cold front to have limited visibility are Heavy snowfalls, blowing snow, clouds and fogs.

(Credit to: Allie Bynum)