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The COVID-19 pandemic created some trends in avalanche accidents. In a new study from the CAIC, researchers point out that experts鈥攏ot beginners鈥攎ay be more at risk with increased backcountry travel.
The COVID-19 pandemic created some trends in avalanche accidents. In a new study from the CAIC, researchers point out that experts鈥攏ot beginners鈥攎ay be more at risk with increased backcountry travel.

How the Pandemic Has Changed Backcountry Safety

A study from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center indicated something counterintuitive: experience doesn't always correspond with safety

Published: 
The COVID-19 pandemic created some trends in avalanche accidents. In a new study from the CAIC, researchers point out that experts鈥攏ot beginners鈥攎ay be more at risk with increased backcountry travel.

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Over the summer, COVID-19 sent a flood of new people to the mountains聽to get away from it all. As the snow flies, 聽that a similar flood of newcomers will cause a deluge of accidents, including avalanches.

But a new suggests that when it comes to slides, the newbies won鈥檛 be the only problem in this unprecedented year. It鈥檚 experienced backcountry users who are waking the big man in the white suit more often. And COVID-19 might be one reason why.

During the spring, researchers at the 聽(CAIC) thought they were seeing more avalanche accidents as the pandemic swept across the country. According to the center鈥檚 director, Ethan Greene, they wanted to know if their observation was accurate, and聽if so, why this was happening. Were ski-resort closures sending a pulse of new, inexperienced people into the backcountry in search of a snow fix?聽The shutdowns and travel restrictions in Colorado聽that began聽March 13 offered an 鈥渦nfortunate opportunity,鈥 as Greene puts it, for him and Spencer Logan, the avalanche center鈥檚 lead scientist, to look at accidents during聽two very different periods of one winter.

In a study published on the聽 in November, Greene and Logan聽examined the documented avalanche accidents of Colorado鈥檚聽2019鈥20 season: there were 86 total, involving 126 people, six of whom聽died. To get a sense of how savvy these individuals鈥攕kiers, snowshoers, snowmobilers, and climbers鈥攚ere about snow safety, the researchers categorized each in two ways. Whenever possible,聽they recorded the person鈥檚聽level of formal avalanche education, and they also ranked the person鈥檚聽experience based on聽indirect evidence available in incident reports and interviews.

Greene and Logan weren鈥檛 surprised to find that the majority of those聽involved in avalanches had聽intermediate or advanced skill levels. As training and experience increase, so does time spent in avalanche terrain, past research聽has shown.

But they also found something counterintuitive: a 鈥渟ignificant change鈥 in the experience level of those involved in avalanches at the tail end of the season. Of the 55 recorded incidents before March 13, 20聽involved experienced backcountry travelers. Of the 31 that followed, 22 involved those with intermediate or advanced skillsets. (The 鈥渁valanche year鈥 technically runs from October 1 to September 30, but there are about four solid months of skiing between mid-November and mid-March聽and聽about two and a half聽months after that.)

In short, more experienced, educated backcountry users聽got into more trouble after聽the pandemic struck. But beginners聽to the backcountry, as categorized by the authors, were not involved in a larger proportion of avalanche incidents after March 13, they found.聽

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 see a big spike from new users,鈥 says Greene. This suggests that a flood of beginners聽alone won鈥檛 drive avalanche accidents this winter, the authors wrote.

What鈥檚 going on? Greene and Logan聽aren鈥檛 certain. But they do have some educated guesses.聽

When the pandemic closed ski areas聽and restricted other activities in Colorado, easily accessible聽backcountry areas got more crowded, the authors wrote. Facing this, more experienced recreators 鈥渦sed those skills to push into less-familiar terrain or explore new areas,鈥澛爐hey wrote. And that meant accepting more risk in the mountains.聽

This jibes with the scientific observation that people are willing to accept more risk when they are already in a stressful situation.聽鈥淭he uncertainty of a global pandemic is certainly a stressful situation,鈥 the authors wrote.聽There is also a phenomenon called the 鈥渟carcity heuristic鈥 in human decision-making, Greene says: when something suddenly seems less available (in this case, powder snow聽or a day away from other people), humans will make different decisions to obtain that thing.

It鈥檚 not hard to imagine how this might play out聽in a weird year like 2020: You roll up to your favorite trailhead for a day of backcountry skiing. There鈥檚 a crowd where there never was one before. The new situation flusters you; perhaps you鈥檙e even pissed off. You quickly change your carefully laid聽plan聽to something new鈥攎aybe a less obvious route that crosses a big avalanche path or a ridge guarded by a fat cornice. Your whole day is now different, and riskier.

The study聽presents聽another finding that lends credence to these scenarios. Avalanche danger in the U.S. is rated on a scale from low (1) to extreme (5), depending on factors such as snowfall,聽weather, and the structure of the snowpack. Many accidents occur at a rating of considerable (3). Last winter聽the state had far more considerable days before March 13 than after. But聽there were聽an equal number of accidents on considerable days in the first four months of the season as there were in just the last two and a half. 鈥淚t suggests that people were willing to go into avalanche terrain at a higher avalanche-danger rating than maybe聽they would have at other times,鈥 Greene says. 鈥淚t would suggest that people were willing to take more risks,鈥 if unconsciously, after COVID-19 was in play, he says.

The study has limitations, Greene acknowledges. The number of accidents and participants was聽relatively small. It looked at only one season. The study also was not formally peer-reviewed聽but instead was read by knowledgeable colleagues at other avalanche organizations before being posted, he says. (Data sets for studies on avalanche accidents are often quite small, Greene says.)

Scott Schell, executive director of the Northwest Avalanche Center, hopes the paper will lead both avalanche professionals and weekend warriors alike to pause. It鈥檚 always tempting to think that other people are the problem, says Schell. This study suggests just the opposite.聽鈥淲e鈥檙e all them,鈥 he says.聽

The study serves as a reminder as we enter an unusual winter: When you鈥檙e faced with something new in the mountains鈥攕uch as more people鈥攕top and thoughtfully reconsider your plan. Don鈥檛 just plow forward.

In the meantime, sign up for an avalanche class. (You can find one .聽They鈥檙e in high demand, so聽if you can鈥檛 get into a course for a while, check out by Ski-Doo and Backcountry Access聽or consider an .) Make sure you have the gear鈥an avalanche beacon, a shovel, a probe鈥攁nd know how to use it. And check your every time you head out.聽

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