Avalanche Videos and Tutorials
An increasing variety of Avalanche Videos and On-line Tutorials have been recently developed to help the interested user in managing and mitigating avalanche danger. Some are available for purchase on-line, and some are viewable on-line. Some of the more popular or worthwhile video and tutorials are listed below:
On-line Resources
- Forest Service's National Avalanche Center (NAC) Avalanche Awareness Tutorials for Snomobilers and for Skiers, Snowboarders and Hikers
- Skills for surviving in avalanche country (Forest Service NAC)
- Learn by experiencing "A Day in Avalanche Country" (Forest Service NAC)
- How Avalanches Work video clip from "How Stuff Works"
- If you're caught or friends or loved ones are caught by avalanches, How will you respond? Take the "Avalanche First Response Training" course offered by the Canadian Avalanche Association to maybe help save a life.
- If you're a rider, check out the Snowmobiler Avalanche Safety Training by snowmobilers.org
- No matter what your sport, the Canadian Avalanche Avaluator may help you make safer decisions about terrain
- This entertaining On-line Avalanche Class by TGR and North Face features Lead Guide Jim Conway helping with the learning process
- The IASA (International Association of Snowmobile Administrators) offers many links to avalanche education and is a great Avalanche Education Repository for snowmobilers and snowmobile educators, including pages on:
- The Utah Avalanche Center's excellent Know Before You Go video is definitely worth watching and learning from.
- This excellent short Avalanche Tutorial (developed by the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center) can help start the education process. This tutorial is highly recommended for anyone heading out into the back country.
- The Gallatin National Forecast Avalanche Center video page has many good educational videos on digging snowpits and performing various stability tests. While the methodology for the tests displayed remains pretty much the same across differing snowpack regimes, be aware that these tests are done in a decidedly much more continental snowpack than is typical in the NW.
- AIARE's avalanche education downloads page, includes several articles, tutorials, and videos which provide educational materials about route-finding, risks, rescue techniques, and more.
- Canada's Mountain Equipment Co-op provides links to a number of online video resources, including several safety videos and the complete A Dozen More Turns video.
Video Resources
A Dozen More Turns
Written, filmed and directed by Amber Seyler
30 minutes. True account of five close friends, all with extensive avalanche education, who went on a New Year's Day hut trip in Southwestern Montana. A member of the group triggered an avalanche with truly devastating consequences. This film tells this tragic story in an effort to help backcountry enthusiasts re-calibrate their decision-making processes when up on the slopes. Using emotional interviews, science and compelling home video footage left behind by the group, each viewer is left wondering if simply having avalanche education is enough to save our lives in the backcountry. How much are we willing to risk for a dozen more turns?
Watch the video online - Part one. Part two. Part three.
Funded through the Friends of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. and available for purchase for only $5.49 at BackpackingLight.com
Winning the Avalanche Game
Written, filmed and directed by Bruce Tremper.
58 minutes. A comprehensive avalanche education video for backcountry skiers, climbers, snowmobilers and snowboarders. Features 13 prominent avalanche professionals who describe how they keep themselves and others alive in hazardous avalanche terrain. Intercut with dramatic avalanche footage and examples.
Available from: Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center, Box 521353
Salt Lake City, UT 84152-1353. Phone: 801 488 1003, or the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center. Phone: 801.524.5304. Cost $29.95 S/H included.
Avalanche (NOVA Video #WG2418N. 60-min. 1997 Discovery Channel)
Hour long avalanche documentary filmed by Pioneer Productions in England. Features dramatic avalanche footage and interviews with avalanche experts worldwide. Cost approximately $20.
Available from Discovery Channel at http://shopping.discovery.com/ $19.95. Also available at Channel 9 stores or; WGBH Boston Video, PO Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407-2284. Phone: 800.255.9424, fax: 802.864.9846, or http//www.wgbh.org.
Avalanche Rescue Beacons, a Race against time
15 minutes. 25.95 plus shipping and handling. Available from: People Productions, 1630 N. 63rd st. Suite 7, Boulder, CO 80301.
Avalanche Awareness
1998. Alliance Communicationis. Denver, CO
Riding Safely in Avalanche Country
1998. Friends of the Sun Valley Avalanche Center. Ketchum, ID.