I’m sure you prefer not getting caught up in any disaster this winter at all than having to practice the steps to survive an avalanche, but, hey, nature is unpredictable. Natural disasters can be hard to predict. There’s no guarantee that your preparations to avoid an avalanche will always work.
Here are the steps to take if you find yourself in an avalanche.
5 Steps to Survive an Avalanche
Rub to & by the Sides of the Avalanche
Flight is usually the body’s default response to imminent danger, especially if unfamiliar with it. So, I expect that your first step when an avalanche seeks you is to break into speed. However, it’s difficult to outrun that whirling avalanche, so it’s advised that you don’t move in a straight line before it.
Instead, run to the sides & continue running as close as you can to the sides to avoid getting buried. If there’s a hill, go up it or jump on a slope.
Reach & Grab
If you’ve been caught up in the snow already, conserve your energy & be on the lookout as it carries you about. What are you keeping an eye out for? Something big & sturdy: like a boulder or a tree. While a major avalanche may crush these too, a smaller one may not, so just be on the lookout.
However, notwithstanding the magnanimity of the avalanche, grab onto something likely to slow you down. The goal is to stay rooted to that spot & avoid being dragged all the way.
Keep an Arm Up
If you cannot reach or grab, your next safest bet is to put an arm up as the avalanche causes you to slide down. Thus will notify anyone who’s nearby, and it may be that you’ll wait until friends or a rescue team find you. In a case like this, having on striking gloves may make all the difference. The snow is white, so I suggest a pair of black, red, or yellow reflective gloves. The reflective properties will help during nighttime.
Swim Up
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Swimming is an essential skill in surviving an avalanche. Once you’re unable to do much & are already caught up in the snow, the next thing for you is to avoid getting trapped any further. Swim up, as if you were climbing to the summit, to get to where it is much safer: the top of the avalanche. If you can’t swim well, you can try out aggressive motions involving the arms & feet, provided they can help you to the surface.
Make Space for Breathing
The last thing anyone wants in this situation is to run out of air to breathe. The end result, should this happen, is always asphyxiation & this is one of the commonest causes of death related to avalanche. Stay alert so that moments before the snow buries you, keep an arm up & use the other to cup over your mouth. When you’re finally buried, move the hand to create space through which you’ll be breathing until help arrives.
Concluding The Steps to Survive an Avalanche
The steps to survive an avalanche are not easy. Carrying them out will, therefore, require the right frame of mind from you. This brings us to the last step: remain calm. It is okay to panic when an avalanche is hot on your heels, but losing your cool totally will not help your cause. The steps above have to be consciously done. Doing into a panic overdrive will never help. Let’s hear from you: have you survived an avalanche before?