#mountain-safety

#mountain-safety

Avalanche artillery mitigation has been at the center of a steadily evolving program to understand, predict, and control snowpack hazards. Many a skier has woken up to the thunderous, window-rattling booms of artillery fire from a nearby highway or ski area and known that sound is almost universally a sign of a good ski day. The combination of new avalanche mitigation strategies, dwindling supplies of the surplus ammunition used for mitigation, and retirements of people who know how to service an aging arsenal of howitzers has culminated in a more than decade-long push to eliminate reliance on artillery for avalanche mitigation.

Violence on the ski mountain is never justified. If there's a serious problem, get ski patrol and let them handle it. But some people are just too entitled and have no sense of self control, ruining the peace that should exist on the resort.

Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington is about as legendary of a ski area as they come, being a bucket list item for many East Coast skiers and snowboarders. Its difficulty, usual less-than-ideal conditions, and more remote location mean that airs are fairly rare, but they do happen.

I have evolved from someone who didn't think much of the bar except for resting my legs to thinking of it as an obvious life-saving precaution. Dr. Bourne shared several examples from Mammoth in which the bar could have saved lives, including the death of her former ski coach, who fell from a chairlift to his death, most likely from a medical event which may have been treatable.

The FIS Freeride World Tour by Peak Performance has officially cancelled the Georgia Pro, the third stop of the 2026 FWT season, citing unstable snowpack conditions that do not meet safety standards. Following what organizers described as an extensive evaluation process involving FWT officials, mountain safety experts, and local professionals, it was determined that current structural instabilities in the snowpack would not sufficiently improve within the available competition window.

An Austrian mountaineer is to appear in court accused of gross negligent manslaughter after his girlfriend died of hypothermia when he left her close to the summit on a climb that went dramatically wrong. The 33-year-old woman, identified only as Kerstin G, froze to death on 19 January 2025, about 50 metres below the summit of the Groglockner, Austria's tallest mountain, after an ascent of more than 17 hours with her boyfriend, Thomas P, 36.

Beginning this winter, AirFlare will support the Snow Angel Foundation's collision-prevention and safety-training initiatives by providing complimentary annual app subscriptions to Snow Angel staff, volunteers, partners, and employees at ski areas where Snow Angel delivers training. AirFlare will also elevate Snow Angel messaging across its network of ski area clients and participate in on-mountain safety events to help guests "Ride Another Day."

Travizano was climbing the mountain solo and joined two other climbers that he met on the ascent, Meyers said. After the three climbers successfully summited Mount Shasta, two climbers, including Travizano, lost their way and wandered off route during the descent. That afternoon, clouds moved across the upper mountain and limited visibility, Meyers said. There are several routes that converge on Shasta's summit plateau, so if someone is not familiar with the terrain and they're not using navigation tools, when visibility is poor, they can go down the mountain the wrong way.