Q 01/05

After an avalanche comes to rest, the debris holding a buried person is often likened to which material?

A) Quicksand

B) Concrete

C) Styrofoam

D) Wet sand

Answer · why

B) Concrete

Concrete. The debris locks solid the instant it stops, so a buried person usually cannot move even a hand and has to be dug out by others.

Q 02/05

What is the most common cause of natural avalanches?

A) Earthquakes shaking the mountainside

B) Increased load from snowfall during storms

C) Warm sunshine melting the surface snow

D) Rockfall from cliffs above the slope

Answer · why

B) Increased load from snowfall during storms

Increased load from snowfall during storms. A quick deluge of new snow overloads the layers beneath until one gives way, so the riskiest time is durin...

Q 03/05

Which of these supposed causes of an avalanche is actually a myth?

A) A lone skier

B) A snowmobile

C) A loud shout

D) An earthquake

Answer · why

C) A loud shout

A loud shout. Swiss researchers calculated that sound presses on the snow at least a hundred times too weakly to matter, so it sets off avalanches, as...

Q 04/05

What do avalanche forecasters dig into a slope to read a winter's snowfall layer by layer?

A) A snow cave

B) A quinzhee

C) An igloo

D) A snow pit

Answer · why

D) A snow pit

A snow pit. Its wall shows the whole winter stacked up like the layers of a cake, and tests on it reveal which layer is likely to give way.

Q 05/05

Avalanche researcher André Roch famously warned skiers that the avalanche doesn't know you are what?

A) A beginner

B) In a hurry

C) An expert

D) A local

Answer · why

C) An expert

An expert. Roch, a Swiss pioneer of avalanche science, spoke from experience: he was caught in three avalanches himself, and his son was swept away by...