Are avalanches avoidable?
Yes, they are, but before you can reliably avoid an avalanche you need to have a reasonable understanding of what causes them and in what conditions you can expect them. Once armed with this knowledge you can make use of multiple sources of information, including maps, weather forecasts, visual and structural inspection and even “6th sense gut feelings” in order to avoid them. Note that nobody knows everything there is to know, so don’t try and learn everything at once. Just like learning ski turns, if you build up gradually it’s easy, but if you try and emulate Olympic slalom champions on your first run you’ll come unstuck. To get the information you need for this, look at Questions 4 & 5…
