The French ANENA (National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches) is running its “Avalanche Days” road show for the 3rd consecutive year. An avalanche day is a chance for the public, ski tourers, off piste skiers and snowboards, snow shoers to spend a day in the company of experts in the domain learning practical aspects of avalanche avoidance and backcountry travel. This winter the tour will visit Dijon on the 18th of November and Aix-en-Provence on the 25th. The show then returns to base in Grenoble on the 16th of December.
The Dijon and Aix days will follow the classic formula, what is an avalanche, how are they triggered, what is the influence of the weather etc. The Grenoble conference takes things to the next level and is aimed at people who have already attended one of the ANENA’s conferences or who already have a good knowledge of the subject. The day will cover:
* Applied snow studies and slab avalanches : snow metamorphism and weather condition; triggering factors for slab avalanches.
* Human factors : heuristic traps, group behaviour etc – the session will feature eye witness accounts.
* Rescue and avalanches, an example of how a search and rescue should be organised with audience participation.
A full programme can be found on the ANENA’s web site:
http://www.anena.org/savoir/conf_stage/jfa_2006/jfa_presentation_06.html
The avalanche days are in French. You are advised to reserve early as previous days have been very popular.