Avalanche Center Updates and News

NEW - Take our current quiz and win a membership for one month

2010-04-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce a new feature: the Current Quiz. This is available by logging in (for free) using an email address which is on our updates list (and therefore confirmed).

The quiz will change from time to time. Right now we have a five question quiz on precipitation as it relates to avalanches. These questions are from the weather module in the Level 1 course taught through our Avalanche Institute. (This is not the only quiz in the module, there are numerous others. Nor is it the only format used - others use matching, crosswords, submission via drop box, etc.)

You will need to log in with your email address to take the quiz. This is free, and not the same as membership. Your address needs to be on our updates list so that we know it is real and has been confirmed by a person. When you complete the quiz your score, as a percentage, is sent to us along with the email address you logged in with. We will contact you at that address concerning any prizes.

Right now we are offering a one month membership to everyone who gets 100%. Current members will be extended by a month. Along with the membership your address will be added to a pool that is eligible for additional prizes, yet to be determined. These will result from a drawing, cumulative success on additional quizzes, or both.

You can access the quiz from our existing quizzes page in the Education section, where we still have some open access quizzes that have been there for a long time now. When you click on the Current Quiz link you will be taken to a login page where you can enter your email address. If it is not currently registered with us there is also a link on the login page to subscribe to our updates list.

Please feel free to pass the word along and let others know about the new quiz feature. We will be announcing it more widely soon but are starting with this Updates and News blog. The blog is not well established yet, we have not been able to use it as much as we would like to due to all of the other work involved in running the website.

ABS Pack Discounts - Ends Mar 30

2010-03-24T22:31:00.000-07:00

ABS Pack Sale

Ends March 30 !

(Click on the image to see a large version in a new window or tab.)

We have an opportunity to purchase ABS packs in advance for next season, but we need to prepay our order and as a grassroots nonprofit don't have much of a cash flow. So we are passing savings on to any customer who wants to join in the order.

While our own purchase is for inventory for next season we will ship yours as soon as we receive our order.

You can save over 20% by participating in this deal. But it ends Mar 30 so act fast!

Contact us at store@csac.org

Pigs - saved from avalanches to become sausage!

2010-02-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

It seems the poor pigs just can't win!

First there was this news,

To save human lives and study the effects of being buried in avalanches, researchers buried live pigs while monitoring them as they died. A total of 29 pigs were part of the two-week study. The study was voluntarily terminated and an official statement released.
(See http://www.avalanche-center.org/News/2010/2010-01-07-Austria.php)

Then, a week or two later:

Pigs saved from the chop after public protests stopped them being buried alive in snow by scientists are to end up as sausages, say researchers conducting the tests.
(See http://www.avalanche-center.org/News/2010/2010-01-19-Austria.php)

Read the full details using the links above or go to our News section.

End-of-Year Updates Series and Support Request

2009-12-28T23:54:00.000-08:00

During the final days of 2009 (and perhaps into the beginning of 2010) we are issuing a series of updates which highlight the different sections of our website and the many various resources we provide.

We also hope this will encourage people to help support these resources by remembering us in their end-of-year charitable giving plans. Contributions made before Jan 1 can be paid off on next years credit card statements but still deducted on this years taxes. Checks can be deducted if they are mailed (or perhaps dated) before 2010.

The first brief update on Christmas day introduced this series and reminded people to consider contributing to the project. The series can be read online in our Updates archive by starting with Dec 25, 2009 -

http://www.avalanche-center.org/Organization/updates/

Avalanche Education Articles

2009-11-20T00:09:00.000-08:00

Avalanche Education Articles (New Links Section)

Over the summer we updated our Links section: http://www.avalanche-center.org/links/

It is now possible for users to submit articles as well as links, and to comment on articles as well as rate them. Submitting links now requires an email confirmation to eliminate the constant spam, but articles do not. Both need to be approved before appearing.

We have just added a second article in the Avalanche Education section, "Training Doesn't Reduce Avalanche Risk When Skiing, Study Shows". This is the latest in a stream of indications that traditional avalanche education isn't as effective as it could be. Feel free to leave any comments or to rate the article.

You can go directly to these articles here:
http://www.avalanche-center.org/links/avalanche_education/

Anyone is welcome to submit links and articles. The upgrade was significant, and done with donated labor hours. If there are questions or problems don't hesitate to contact us at snow@csac.org

Approval of links, articles and comments is done as quickly as possible and should generally be within 24 hours or less. Unless it's overnight it will more often be within 12 hours at the most. Submissions must be relevant and constructive, this is the only criteria. Unlike many sites links promoting the business of the submitter are fine (such as avalanche education programs). Self-promotion articles are not appropriate if they have no breadth beyond that.

Snow rescues easy fetch game for dogs

2009-11-18T01:11:00.000-08:00

This is actually from August, but it was just posted in the process of catching up in things. It's a general interest article...

A series of avalanches causing two deaths in the Southern Alps of New Zealand this winter have kept snow rescue dogs busy sniffing out trapped people. When a person becomes trapped by an avalanche, their best hope for survival - aside from a personal locator beacon - is a rescue dog, whose agility, speed and sense of smell can mean the difference between life and death.

For the full article visit our News section:
http://www.avalanche-center.org/News/

Beacon Blast - Members Sale

2009-11-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

Through November we have all beacons on sale for members. These prices are so low we can't list them, so you'll need to be a current member and log into the website. If you are not currently an active member you will save more than enough to cover your membership, and you will then have access to all website features and member benefits for the next year. (If you are a member now any store purchase over $100 in check-out value will extend your membership for one year from the date of that purchase.)

The sale is planned to last through November but there is no guarantee. In the past even auctioning one beacon on ebay caused a big online retailer to complain to the manufacturer. (When times get tough these guys don't compete, they complain.) This is why pricing is only available to logged in current members.

We also have a few shovels and quite a few probes left from last year that were on sale over summer. These are no longer on public sale since we can roll them into this years inventory, but members may still purchase them on sale while they last.

When members log in and shop they also get an across-the-board discount on all items not on sale. This varies at our discretion, but during the Beacon Blast it is 10%. Members also pay no shipping.

In other store news, we set up an affiliate program a year or two ago but have not done much with it. If you have a website or webpage you can put a link to our store and receive a percentage of each sale resulting from your link. This is a good way to help the avalanche center, promote safety equipment to your users/members, and raise a little money through your website. If you're a club this discount could be passed back to your own members. Contact us if you're interested. The system was installed and tested, but we'll have to work with you to get it implemented since we haven't been using it since installing it.

Reviewers Needed for Education Content

2009-10-16T02:11:00.000-07:00

Our major emphasis this season will be the introduction of online education. This is not some flashy self-run tutorial that was developed and thrown out there for consumption with no further effort. (Anyone who has followed our project knows this is not our style!).

The courses we will offer are interactive, with multiple methods of communication with instructors as well as other students. It is a somewhat labor intensive undertaking. (The development has proven to be extremely labor intensive and has required a great deal of work over at least two seasons now.)

We have run the course with actual students, some of whom have professional backgrounds ranging from adult education to meteorology. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. But before we open up these resources in another month or so we have some additional review and benchmarking to do.

We need a group of people willing to "challenge" some of our level one modules so we can get a benchmark of results. After taking the quizzes these reviewers can complete the actual instructional module. In order to be useful these reviewers need to have a Level 1 class within the past 2 years, recreational in nature. (This means 24 hrs, more or less, offered as a first course for the general public. NSP, National Avalanche School, etc do not count. This isn't a judgement of these programs, but their objectives are curricula are not the same.)

You can get more details on the requirements to be a reviewer as well as on the Level 1 program here: http://www.avalanche-center.org/institute/reviewers/

Please pass along this request to anyone you know who meets the requirement of current Level 1 training.

New Links / Articles Section

2009-10-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Links section improved - now including articles

One project earlier this summer was to upgrade the links section. This isn't well attached to the main website sections, it is most accessible from the icon on the right side of the home page showing four chain links.

The newest version of the open source php software we use includes articles as well as links. Anyone can submit an article, just as they can submit a link. Articles can also be commented on. As with most user submitted information there is an approval process to filter out the spam. However, new material is usually approved quickly. Unless it is spam.

When a link is submitted there is now an email confirmation process. The person submitting the link must go to a link provided in an email to them. After they do that it is submitted for approval. This will keep the approval queue from being over run with spam and automated submissions. Articles do not need email confirmation at this time, they go directly to the approval queue.

This software update helps keep us one step ahead of the spammers and bots that submit junk throughout cyberspace. It's an ongoing battle, which is why some sites just allow very limited user input or interaction. If any at all.

If you submit an article or link and have any problems let us know, or if you have any questions about the submission or approval process. It has been tested but not yet widely used, and it was a major enough upgrade to require quite a bit of tweaking to templates, permissions, and other settings.

http://avalanche-center.org/links/

Decals and Bookmarks are in !!

2009-10-08T00:56:00.001-07:00

Decals and bookmarks ("club cards" now) are in and available. In the photo the bookmark is on the left and the decal on the right. The bookmark was printed as a standard sized "club card" that was off from the logo dimensions, so you can see that it is a bit stretched vertically. It still looks good, and is on glossy heavy stock paper with the same design on both sides.

The decals are properly sized, on thinner stock than our previous ones. So far they seem to hold up well on vehicles through all kinds of conditions.

Decals are available at an almost negligible cost on our website store. For now there is no way to avoid a standard shipping fee added to all shopping carts, but if the decals are the only item you want let us know and we'll waive the shipping. Or order by sending a SASE to us.

Our previous edition bookmarks were shaped more like a bookmark and more verbose, whereas the new ones simply have the logo and URL. We have given these out upon request for people to distribute through local shops, clubs, classes, friends, etc. Let us know if you want some and we'll send a stack out to you.

Using and distributing these items will help us promote the project for this winter and others to come.

Aug 29, 2009 - News Section Update

2009-08-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Swiss winter set new records with fewer deaths - May 17, 2009

It is official: The 2008/09 winter season was longer and snowier than average, according to Swiss researchers. In a wrap-up report detailing last winter's statistics, the Institute for Snow and Avalanche research in Davos said Switzerland's wet winter broke numerous records. More ...

The section RSS feed includes a link to this story also.

You can follow updates to this blog on Facebook with the NetworkedBlogs app. The RSS feed for the blog can be read on our Newsfeeds page, along with the feeds for the News and Incidents sections of the website.

Aug 19, 2009 - News Section Update

2009-08-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

100-year avalanche damages Sun Road - May 17, 2009

A "once-in-a-century" avalanche last winter wiped out 550 feet of guard wall along the Going-to-the-Sun Road just west of the Continental Divide, Glacier National Park (US) officials said last week. The Little Granite Creek avalanche — a Class-5 avalanche, the most catastrophic listing — damaged the alpine Sun Road just above the Loop, then crossed the road again just below the Loop, and roared over the Packers Roost Road before it came to a halt 4,300 feet below. More ...

The section RSS feed includes a link to this story also.

In addition to adding the above story the entire News section was link checked and the Section Map was brought up to date. The map serves as a concise index to all news stories archived in the section.

Avalanche Center (CSAC) - Snow and Avalanches

2009-08-15T16:15:00.001-07:00

Avalanche Center (CSAC) - Snow and Avalanches

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Welcome to the new blog.

2009-08-15T14:46:00.001-07:00

This blog will cover updates to the avalanche center website and project news. You can use the SHARE button to add this to most social bookmark type sites, you can subscribe to the RSS feed, and you can use the NetworkedBlogs app on facebook to follow it.

We are still tweaking the formatting and some other fine points, and will try to also have the subdomain blog.avalanche-center.org point here (in addition to the blogger.com URL).

Your comments are welcome. In addition to comments here we welcome feedback on our website forums.