The most famous myths about Snow and Avalanches
Number 1 : "It's cold, thus it's safe"
It's a common misconception that we hear often, too often. And unfortunately, in most cases, it's just not true.
First of all, let's start by saying that the concept of "cold" should refer to snow and not ourselves, and there is a significant difference! Furthermore, it's a highly subjective measure and is difficult to assess in relation to the temperature of the various layers that make up the snowpack and of the air in the surrounding environment.
In reality, cold generally maintains the stability or instability conditions in which the snowpack finds itself at that moment and, in some cases, if it persists for several days, it can contribute to the formation of weak layers within the snowpack itself.
Let's look at some concrete examples to help us better understand the phenomena related to the temperature of the snowpack, without going into too much technical detail that must be studied in specific training courses and readings.
Example 1
After a snowfall, a period of cold delays or even cancels the metamorphism due to small gradient (destructive metamorphism) which, with milder temperatures, leads to a progressive consolidation of the snowpack. Moreover, in these conditions, the wind, almost always present in the mountains, easily transports snow crystals that, due to the cold, are still "light" and poorly cohesive together. The formation of dangerous slabs on slopes and in windward areas will be easier.
Example 2
Let’s assume we are in the presence of a snowpack that is not very thick and perhaps contains a lot of air inside, as is the case in the presence of long grass or rhododendrons on the ground. A negative temperature of the air, and therefore of the upper part of the snowpack compared to the warmer temperature near the ground due to the geothermal flow, creates a significant temperature difference that promotes gradient metamorphism resulting in increasingly faceted, weak and incohesive crystals. That’s an ideal sliding layer!
Example 3
Imagine a period of day-time warming and night-time thawing. The snowpack gradually settles positively for a melt-freeze metamorphism. During the night the temperature drops compared to the day, but there is a significant layer of low clouds, and therefore, the sky is not clear. In these conditions, the snowpack does not freeze completely during the night; thus, early in the morning, we will feel cold, but the snowpack will be only partially frozen and will lose consistency already from the early hours of the morning, anticipating dangerous conditions during the day.
These are just three examples, but there could be many others.
Therefore, the idea that "it's cold, there's no danger" is fundamentally wrong and misleading because it relaxes our brain and subconsciously induces us to be less attentive and observe those signals that, instead, regardless of the cold, can put us on alert and make us reflect on the most correct track.
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Ernesto Bassetti
Ernesto is one of the leading snow and avalanche experts in Italy and beyond.
By passion and by profession, he has been involved in mountain safety for over 40 years, with particular attention to the avalanche issue.
He is co-founder, and until 2020 Vice President, of MND Group; important international player in the field of mountain infrastructure and world leader in controlled avalanche release systems.
He is a ski instructor, National Ski Mountaineering Instructor, former director of the Mario Righini Ski Mountaineering School.
He was promoter, co-founder and soul of the "Servizio Valanghe Italiano" (Italian Avalanche Service), of which he held the Presidency for 18 years.
