October 31, 2011: US Avalanche Fatalities 2010-11: Quick Overview
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The 2010-2011 season ended on September 30 and we have a few overview graphs of fatalities for that season now. The total by our count is 24 individuals and 21 incidents. We are omitting an unwitnessed incident in Washington State which appears to have been a cornice fall that may have caused an avalanche below. The cause of the fatal incident does not appear to have been an avalanche. There are cases like this which are subjective, one year a climbing fall on Mt Hood resulted in a wet snow avalanche. Some counts included it, we considered it to be primarily a climbing fall.
The five year average in recent times has been 25-30 fatalities so this was a below average season.
All of the graphs we have produced so far follow. The largest number occurred in April, followed by March. January, which usually ranks highest or close, had only 2 which was low and on a par with November for this season.
There was nothing particularly unusual about the distribution by state or by activity. The distribution by danger rating (for those incidents it was known for) was also typical with most taking place during Moderate or Considerable conditions in the opinion of local forecasters. One occurred during conditions that were considered Low which is a reminder that it still does not mean zero risk. A few happened during conditions considered to be High which is not unusual. There are usually less at this rating than Moderate or Considerable since the term High is more definitive and warnings tend to be more vocal, but it is typical to have a few.
We have been busy with a fall sale and preparations for our annual auction so this is as much analysis as we have done at this time.
The 2010-2011 season ended on September 30 and we have a few overview graphs of fatalities for that season now. The total by our count is 24 individuals and 21 incidents. We are omitting an unwitnessed incident in Washington State which appears to have been a cornice fall that may have caused an avalanche below. The cause of the fatal incident does not appear to have been an avalanche. There are cases like this which are subjective, one year a climbing fall on Mt Hood resulted in a wet snow avalanche. Some counts included it, we considered it to be primarily a climbing fall.
The five year average in recent times has been 25-30 fatalities so this was a below average season.
All of the graphs we have produced so far follow. The largest number occurred in April, followed by March. January, which usually ranks highest or close, had only 2 which was low and on a par with November for this season.
There was nothing particularly unusual about the distribution by state or by activity. The distribution by danger rating (for those incidents it was known for) was also typical with most taking place during Moderate or Considerable conditions in the opinion of local forecasters. One occurred during conditions that were considered Low which is a reminder that it still does not mean zero risk. A few happened during conditions considered to be High which is not unusual. There are usually less at this rating than Moderate or Considerable since the term High is more definitive and warnings tend to be more vocal, but it is typical to have a few.
We have been busy with a fall sale and preparations for our annual auction so this is as much analysis as we have done at this time.
