SAIS & Avalanche Avoidance
Earlier in the winter I was lucky enough to attend an SAIS avalanche course, funded by the Chris Walker Memorial Trust. We spent the day with Graeme Moss, one of the forecasters for the SAIS in Lochaber, and looked at how they make their predictions, as well as gaining an insight into some of the latest developments in the avalanche forecasting world.
One of the most interesting points was that the experts ways of thinking are always changing, and some of the recent developments turn on their head some of our previous thoughts. The new evidence suggests that “Islands of Safety” are actually the opposite of that due to a greater temperature gradient difference because of the shallow snowpack around objects such as boulders and cliffs! Just one of the many useful snippets gleaned from Graeme..
SAIS forecaster Graeme showing us how he makes his decisions…
It was great to walk around the Nevis Range and get an insight into their world, and it’ll definitely bolster my teaching of avalanche avoidance.
During a winter skills course we try and impart useful and practical information on how our clients can avoid avalanches, it’s not very sciency and we don’t dig big holes (other than to show you out of interest how the layers behave with each other). Instead we focus on weather and SAIS forecast interpretation, pre-departure planning and observations whilst on the hill and any changes and differences we may be seeing.
Its a fascinating area and one that every hill walker, climber and skier should gain more knowledge into. One day it might just save your life…
Getting the probes out on the SAIS Chris Walker memorial course