Avalanches are not only very dangerous but very common in places with snowy mountains. Avalanches are when a lot of snow, rocks, and ice slide down a mountain. In the Western United States mountains like the Rockies, avalanches occur around 100,000 times per year. Worldwide, avalanches can kill more than 150 people per year! Avalanches can be triggered by many things both natural and by humans. They can be triggered by rain, wind, warming temperatures, snow, and earthquakes. But humans can trigger them just by skiing, snowboarding, hiking, using snowmobiles, and during construction where the vibration can trigger them. But don’t worry if you are skiing or snowboarding in places that you are allowed to, it’s extremely rare to trigger one. Most ski and snowboard resorts check for avalanche danger frequently and these areas are heavily patrolled especially after fresh snowfall where the snow and ice are the loosest on the surface.

Recently, in February of 2023, three people were killed in an avalanche in Washington and one was injured. A group of six climbers were trying to reach an 8,705-foot peak of a mountain in Washington. These climbers had reached 7,200 feet on the mountain when the leading climber triggered an avalanche. Out of the six climbers, four were hit by the avalanche’s snow and rocks, the other two were behind a rock out of the way of the avalanche. The four climbers that were hit went crashing down around five hundred feet! While three of the four climbers that were hit died, the other had a knee injury. Out of the three people who died, two had died almost instantly and the other was said to be hanging on and had CPR performed on him but an hour after the first snow slide, three more came crashing down and ended up killing him. This peak attracts many visitors a year so it was just unlucky that these six were the ones to experience this avalanche, maybe they weren’t aware of the avalanche danger on this day. 

Avalanches can be extremely dangerous and are definitely something to look out for even though they aren’t common in attractive areas like ski resorts. While avalanche danger can be predicted, there are also many conditions that can still trigger avalanches and make some places extremely dangerous to be in. If you’re thinking of going to a place where avalanche danger can be high, make sure to look out for warnings!