It Can Happen to the Professionals: We Need to Know Avalanches Inside and Out

There’s a fine line between learning from the mistakes of others and shaming people for their ignorance.

Twelve people have died in avalanches in the United States this winter, including an expert skier in Oregon who was also an avalanche forecaster. He was killed in early March despite deploying an airbag that kept him from being buried. On average, 27 people die in avalanches in the United States each year.

The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center has reported three hundred and fifty avalanches since last September. Many of these incidents were triggered by humans, and four resulted in fatalities....