Ice climbing: Avalanche as a source of danger! What to watch out for in an emergency?

Avalanches are a natural source of danger in winter sports such as ice climbing. You should therefore be aware of a few things and prepare yourself for an emergency situation so that you know how to behave and help in the event of danger.

by Martyna Michalak

Planning

First of all, you should plan your tour well to avoid getting into an emergency situation in the first place. Choose a suitable route to the start of the icefall and for the way back and check your equipment. Find out about the weather and avalanche situation in advance. If the forecast is bad, you should not put yourself in danger unnecessarily and rather set off on your tour on another day. It is also important to listen to your body and make sure that you are in good shape and can muster the necessary strength for the planned tour.

In an emergency

If an avalanche does take you by surprise, keep calm and don't panic. Pay attention to the following points in order to be able to provide help:

1. safety

If you are in a group, one person should take command to instruct the others and keep an overview. If you have been appointed as the leader, you must first assess whether there are any other dangers for the group and check how many people are trapped. You should then define the search area and make the emergency call. You should also organize the helpers and manage the avalanche transceivers.

2. make an emergency call

In the event of a burial, you should always call the emergency number. The Europe-wide number is 112, but each country has its own number for contacting the mountain rescue service. If it is a small group, you should only make a short emergency call so that help can then be provided.

3. search

First search for an initial signal using your eyes, ears and avalanche transceiver. Then carry out a rough search within a radius of 5 meters of the initial signal. The fine search begins by slowly crossing out. Pinpointing is carried out systematically and quickly with the probe. Once the person has been located, the shoveling out begins. The aim is to clear the head as quickly as possible so that the person can breathe.

4. first aid

Best case: If the person responds when spoken to, you should continue to shovel them out and protect them from the wind and weather. Try to keep them warm afterwards to avoid hypothermia. Alert the professional rescue team, as an injury cannot be ruled out. If things get worse, you should use the ABC check.

Worst case: If the person is unresponsive and breathing poorly, you should carry out the ABC check:

A (Airway) - check, clear and keep the airway open B (Breathing) - check the frequency and depth of breathing, ventilate if necessary C (Circulation) - as soon as the person is in a stable supine position, you should perform chest compressions.

In the free e-book "Winter sports safety guide - practising outdoor sports safely and without danger", you can get more tips on how to do winter sports safely and download the emergency map so that you always know what to do in an emergency during winter sports.