Avi Educational Video - A Dozen More Turns

I came across this documentary A Dozen More Turns about human judgment, backcountry skiing and avalanche. It's very well done and educational. Please check it out:

A Dozen More Turns - Part I
A Dozen More Turns - Part II
A Dozen More Turns - Part III

Looks like an intersting story (esp with all the recent avy activity)... also worth mentioning here is a short video I saw put out by Teton Gravity Research for a RECCO promotion, called White Book the Movie… contains basic avy awareness info but nothing in any great detail (very top level), but still worth a look. I picked up a (free) DVD at Marmot Bellevue, some of you my have seen it already (also a White Book short publication).

www.recco.com/startsida/whitebookmovie.html

Well done guys.

Zenom, I was thinking yesterday I needed to track down the links to A Dozen More Turns and re-post them.  I'm happy you saved me the effort.

I think is is a brutally educational film that one should watch at the beginning of each season.

This movie caused a major paradigm shift for me when I first watched it.  In thinking back, even though the statistics sometimes indicated otherwise, when hearing of avy deaths I would tend to minimize the impact to me by assuming that those that perished were so deficient in training and awareness that they didn't  understand the peril they place themselves in.  So obviously that couldn't happen to me, as smart an careful as I am...  right?

WRONG.  These guys were Smart (a Lot smarter than me -- the one that triggered the avy had a masters degree in snow science).  They were Trained.  They were Aware.  They were nice, athletic enthusiastic young guys being careful while they enjoyed the outdoors.

Watch the movie and see if you can identify where the turning point was -- the point that turned a fantastic ski trip into a life changing disaster.  Not the avalanche, but before that.

Then, honestly, ask yourself if it could have happened to you.
Then, Think about these guys everytime you are trying to decide whether or not to ski a slope.

Thanks, Again Zenom.

Cesaro, I didn't mean to diminish your contribution.
White Book is a professional and informative production as well.

here is single link to the film

A Dozen more turns

One part of the '12 more turns' video that I might try to make a 'take away' is the list of questions to ask yourself. I think we all probably have these, but may not verbalize them. I know that the folks I tour with most often have gotten better about verbalizing our concerns and talking things through. In the past the people w/ less experience would often stay quiet, we now try to get everyone involved in the conversation. I just hope it's not to convice eachother to pick the sick line. I also try to talk about the decisions on the drive home, just because you didn't get in trouble doesn't mean you made all the right decisions...you may have just been lucky.

One thought is that you'd have to ask a few questions at a few different times:
1. When you are planning the trip
2. When you are leaving the trail head
3. When you are entering an area of (higher) avalanche potential/risk
4. When you are about to start your run.

Some questions on my list:
1. How much did is snow last night / storm?
2. What's the wind & temp been doing / forecast to do?
3. What have I noticed about the snowpack on my way to this point?
4. What would happen if this / that slope cuts loose?
5. What is the consequence of #4?
6. What are the obstacles on this slope? / Consequences of a fall?

....just rambling...maybe the questions should be more finite, less subjective...but it's often a subjective situation.

I'd be interested in what other folks ask themselves.

I just watched this video and thought it was very well done to show this famous human aspect in tragedies like that one and why it happens that even well trained and experienced skiers get into such accidents.

Highly encourage those who haven't to watch it...