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NZ - Homer Tunnel to get new avalanche shelter

The Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will start work next month on the replacement of the 35-metre avalanche shelter at the mouth of the Homer Tunnel. It will be a portable, modular and quick installation, enabling efficient construction at the entrance to the tunnel. The agency will use over 150 precast concrete units created in Ashburton.
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More intense wildfires could mean bigger avalanches

As wildfires burn more frequently and intensely across the West, the U.S. Geological Survey released a first-of-its-kind study finding that less tree coverage could mean longer avalanche slide paths. The study also showed recent fires resulted in more terrain capable of producing avalanches.
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New Backpack Aims To Delivers Air If You’re Buried In An Avalanche

Backpacks designed to help skiers and boarders caught in avalanches have been with us for some time now. The most common innovation is a backpack containing and airbag designed to inflate in an avalanche, with the idea that it helps keep you on or near the surface, more likely to be upright and, if you still end up buried, gives you a potential air pocket. However a new product on the market this winter aims to take a different approach, the Safeback SBX avalanche survival system is designed to deliver an air supply to avalanche burial victims under the snow, extending their likely survival time.
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