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New Research on Trauma and Avalanche Fatalities

By

Will McKay

McCammon & McNeil put forward within their newly released paper that after analyzing nearly five decades of avalanche fatalities, trauma now accounts for nearly 50% of all fatalities.

McCammon & McNeil put forward within their newly released paper that after analyzing nearly five decades of avalanche fatalities, trauma now accounts for nearly 50% of all fatalities. Photo: Will McKay

  New research finds that 50% of avalanche deaths result from trauma.   It’s not that often that a new study as impressive as the Risk Management Trends in U.S. Backcountry Avalanche Accidents: Skiers and Snowboarders, published by Ian McCammon & Kelly McNeil, gets put into the ether. But when it does, there is no…

Responses

  1. Alex Hatcher

    At certain times, avalanche airbag manufacturers have touted airbag usage as a way to mitigate head trauma, as well as burial scenarios. Anecdotally, at least one guide up here in the PNW has vouched for that as a secondary function of the airbag backpack. We definitely can’t ski in big human sized hamster-balls, but I’d be curious to see how the products in the backcountry marketplace can shift to adapt as we learn more about the hazards. Maybe more learning>more gear is the real answer.

    1. Slim

      Mammut has the Protection series of airbags , which has a Horseshoe shaped airbag that comes out of the shoulder strap, so it covers the upper chest and along the sides of the head.

      https://www.mammut.com/us/en/products/2610-01330/pro-protection-airbag-3-0

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