>>293920>Weird, every avalanche report in the local centers go pretty in-depth for what happened, what gear was available, etc.Yeah, the specific reports, of course. I was referring to yearly statistics.
And after digging a bit further it seems that there are a lot of statements that say something along the lines of "beacons are extremely widespread/airbags are becoming increasingly commonplace/etc"
>>293926>Also, that's a lot of "terrain choices" that we teach.Yes, exactly. This is something else I see in statistics as well as everyday.
The most accidents and deaths don't happen due to bad equipment, but bad decisions. People think they're safe when they carry their avalanche equipment, but they consciously take risks or just plainly don't do enough research. Sometimes when I talk with friends and colleagues about whether we're gonna go ride tomorrow they just say "yeah snow will be great", of course they're gonna go. Without even mentioning or considering how new snow will connect (or will not connect!) with the old crust, or considering wind and temperature. I mean you don't need to be an expert, bu at least read through the daily avalanche reports.
>>If a person is involved in an avalanche, a mistake has been made> I sort of agree with that, but at the same time there's no way to absolutely know [for sure]Absolutely. In the end, even the best decisions made by the most experienced persons may lead to some unfortunate accident. If you're getting out there, death rides with you. Always.
But as your instructor says, there's enough knowledge and information to minimize that risk. And chances are, if it happens, mistakes have been made.
You need both theoretical knowledge and practical experience (of your equipment as well as stuff like taking and understanding snow profiles), and from my experience it seems a lot of people feel too safe with either one of them, but rarely with both.
