Avalanche

[DMC_Hunter]

https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/issw-2002-244-251.pdf

"The scarcity heuristic Most skiers are familiar with the "powder fever" that seizes the public after a long-awaited snowstorm. Intent on getting first tracks down a favorite run, hordes of skiers flock to the lifts and the backcountry, often throwing caution to the wind as they compete with each other to consume the powder that is untracked for a limited time only. While this phenomenon is largely fueled by people's enjoyment of powder skiing, it probably has deeper roots in our attitudes 248 5r--------...,..-------__ f 2L..... ..I.- -1 high low no tracks tracks Commitment Scarcity cues Figure 6. Comparison of hazard scores for commitment and scarcity cues, showing the 95% confidence interval about each mean. Both scarcity categories had other parties nearby. about personal freedom. A substantial body of research suggests that people react strongly, at times even aggressively, to any perceived restrictions to prerogatives they feel they are entitled to, regardless of whether or not they intend to exercise those prerogatives (see Pratkanis and Aronson, 2000, or Cialdini, 2001 for reviews). This principle, called psychological reactance, emerges at about the age of two and pervades the fabric of our social environment. In our everyday decision making, psychological reactance manifests itself as the scarcity heuristic: we tend to distort the value ofo pportunities we perceive as limited and to compete with others to obtain them."

 

[Ripitz]

I would've dug a pit.

So says the man who wasn’t there.

 

[JTG]

So says the man who wasn’t there.

Yeah, there’s not a whole lot of value in armchair quarterbacking. He who is without sin and all. I’m sure many of us have made our share of questionable decisions in moments we look back on now and wonder…WTF was I thinking? None of us ever REALLY knows what we would have done in a situation if we weren’t there.

The hindsight being 20/20 thing is more valuable. Admittedly bad decisions were made. There was probably enough experience and knowledge there that a pit (or two) would have been prudent. To err is human, and if lucky enough to come out the other side we hope to truly take the lessons to heart.

Of course (a little bit of) knowledge can be a dangerous thing. As well as familiarity. And scarcity. Thems three of the biggies. I’ve linked it before, but the study DMC linked above is one of the best I’ve seen regarding heuristic traps in skiing.

 

[raisingarizona]

So says the man who wasn’t there.

I’ve been skiing backcountry for 27 years now and maybe Dug 5 pits over that and it’s always been on my first tour of the season. General season familiarity and a good amount of experience can go a lot further than going full science geek in a hole imho. If it’s a new and unknown area and pack then for sure but once you get the basics you can pretty much know what’s going on throughout the season. Getting that experience can be tricky and dangerous.

It sounds like the op has already figured out their wrong turn that day. Shit happens to even the best of the best.

 

[DMC_Hunter]

So says the man who wasn’t there.

What? He didn't say he dug a pit. Chill out brah...

 

[DMC_Hunter]

Yeah, there’s not a whole lot of value in armchair quarterbacking. He who is without sin and all. I’m sure many of us have made our share of questionable decisions in moments we look back on now and wonder…WTF was I thinking? None of us ever REALLY knows what we would have done in a situation if we weren’t there.

The hindsight being 20/20 thing is more valuable. Admittedly bad decisions were made. There was probably enough experience and knowledge there that a pit (or two) would have been prudent. To err is human, and if lucky enough to come out the other side we hope to truly take the lessons to heart.

Of course (a little bit of) knowledge can be a dangerous thing. As well as familiarity. And scarcity. Thems three of the biggies. I’ve linked it before, but the study DMC linked above is one of the best I’ve seen regarding heuristic traps in skiing.

I actually laid out the reason why I would've dug a pit based upon his picture. I've taken the AVI 1 and 2 classes - I've backed off of riding because of digging pits. And it was a wise move based upon a layer of what we determined to be graupel and guess what? It slide that night...
so.
This is advice - take it or fukcing leave it.
But I stand by my statement.

 

[DMC_Hunter]

I’ve been skiing backcountry for 27 years now and maybe Dug 5 pits over that and it’s always been on my first tour of the season. General season familiarity and a good amount of experience can go a lot further than going full science geek in a hole imho. If it’s a new and unknown area and pack then for sure but once you get the basics you can pretty much know what’s going on throughout the season. Getting that experience can be tricky and dangerous.

It sounds like the op has already figured out their wrong turn that day. Shit happens to even the best of the best.

But if skiing a fresh wind blown leeward side of a ridge - you need to check it out first. No matter if it's your first venture that season or other
I would.

 

[raisingarizona]

But if skiing a fresh wind blown leeward side of a ridge - you need to check it out first. No matter if it's your first venture that season or other
I would.

It’s not a bad idea if you are unsure of things. I’m just saying that if it’s your background playground, you know what the snowpack has been like and you have a lot of experience you don’t need to dig a snow pit, you already know what it’s going to tell you. Generally speaking.

*The leeward side isn’t wind blown, that’s the loaded side.

 

[DMC_Hunter]

It’s not a bad idea if you are unsure of things. I’m just saying that if it’s your background playground, you know what the snowpack has been like and you have a lot of experience you don’t need to dig a snow pit, you already know what it’s going to tell you. Generally speaking.

*The leeward side isn’t wind blown, that’s the loaded side.

Thats where a lot of wind blown snow ends up. I was describing the snow.
If there's wind-drifts/slab, I'm digging a pit or just avoiding completely. And at least do a transceiver check. I personally wont risk walking into a weak faceted layer situation. Maybe I'm just overly cautious. It serves me well.

I'm glad everyone is ok.
Feel free to blast me for my opinion now.

 

[raisingarizona]

Thats where a lot of wind blown snow ends up. I was describing the snow.
If there's wind-drifts/slab, I'm digging a pit or just avoiding completely. And at least do a transceiver check. I personally wont risk walking into a weak faceted layer situation. Maybe I'm just overly cautious. It serves me well.

I'm glad everyone is ok.
Feel free to blast me for my opinion now.

Well nothing you’re saying is wrong. All I’m saying is that if you have season familiarity you don’t need to dig a pit to know how the new snow is going to likely react. It can give you an idea when you don’t have that familiarity but you are often limited to where you can safely dig one and there’s often random, spacial variability. Pit digging isn’t some holy grail that the inexperienced folks that just got their avie 1 think it is.