Last fall my neighbor Luc Mehl showed me his decision making flowchart for packrafting. I grabbed his idea and made an avalanche decision making flowchart. It’s not a simple answer. A simple answer doesn’t exist. That’s why avalanches are so fascinating. Rather, it’s a way to structure the tools for making good decisions.

Avalanche decisions are on-going. Starting with your training, knowledge, and experience and continuing through learning from the debrief. Waiting until the top of the powder slope to make a decision is like learning to fly after launching on your first solo flight.

This is the fourth concept (see other posts here) I wrestled with while re-thinking the avalanche problem for my Avalanche Decision Making Field Book.