Avalanche awareness: education and tools to prevent avalanche accidents

To apply research results into practice, outcomes have to be user-friendly transformed and simplified. Together with the core training team for avalanche prevention in snow sports we determine main areas in avalanche education to focus on. All important associations of snow sports in Switzerland attend this avalanche education core team.

We put across important content through different kind of media. In this way we approach different education levels. We developed following documents for promoting avalanche awareness.

Leaflet „Caution - Avalanches!“

Two pages summarise the main content for assessment and decision making in avalanche terrain. The brochure is well established and mainly supports avalanche education in Switzerland and also abroad. It is available in German, French, Italian and Englishm (PDF Download).

Fig. 1: Leaflet "Caution - Avalanches!" (PDF Download).	Fig. 2: The book "Lawinenkunde" summarizes the latest knowledge in the field of snow and avalanches.

Avalanche book „Lawinenkunde“

The book clearly illustrates avalanche knowledge for beginners and professionals alike.

Basic knowledge and new research results are implemented. The book explains how avalanches form and how to assess the avalanche danger with useful tools in the terrain. It explains typical avalanche situations (patterns) and how to deal with human factors in detail. Further there is a chapter about freeriding and of course avalanche rescue is not missing. All in all it is a complete and practical avalanche book.

White Risk – digital platform for avalanche education

In 2006 we developed the interactive learning CD „White Risk“ for promoting avalanche awareness. It rapidly became a popular product for avalanche education. Since its initial development in 2006, there have been tremendous technological advances and user behaviour has drastically changed. We are therefore completely renewing ”White Risk“. Starting in the winter of 2013-2014, ”White Risk 2.0“ will provide a modern avalanche education platform containing a website and a smartphone application. ”White Risk 2.0“ will be available in German, French, Italian and English.

The new version of the smartphone application “White Risk” is available since Winter 2012-2013. It is an important tool to purchase actual avalanche information.

“White Risk” is published by SLF and SUVA (Swiss Accident Insurance Fund). Further the Swiss Red Cross supports the project.

Abb. 3: (links) Screenshot aus der Interaktive Lern-CD White Risk zur Prävention von Lawinenunfällen (Version 2006).  (rechts) Screenshot der neuen Webplattform White Risk 2.0 (Version 2013, erscheint im Dezember 2013).

• Stephan Harvey