Avalanche Safety Basics: 7 Rules and the Danger Scale Explained

The best avalanche is the one you were never in. Everything in avalanche safety comes back to that: avoid first, and if it goes wrong anyway, act fast, because the odds for a buried rider fall off a cliff with every minute under the snow.

This article is a starting point. It does not replace an avalanche course, and reading it does not make anyone a guide. Including us, when we wrote it.

First: get trained

The single most useful thing you can do is spend a few days in the mountains with a guide or avalanche professional. You can read the theory at home, but it only clicks when someone shows you a wind slab, a terrain trap and a bad decision in real terrain.

Then practise rescue. When it happens there is no time to think, only to act. Survival chances drop sharply after roughly 15 minutes of burial, and most people who survive the slide itself die from lack of air. So run a full search-and-dig drill at the start of every winter, and again on storm days when the riding is off. It has to be fast, calm and automatic. Find your buddy. Dig like you mean it.

Seven rules we ride by

1. Get proper avalanche education and keep training.
2. Carry the full kit every time you leave the piste: transceiver, probe, shovel. Everyone in the group.
3. Never ride alone, and know who you are riding with. Your lives depend on each other.
4. Plan the day. Check the avalanche bulletin and the weather, and be honest about the ability and experience of the group.
5. Keep re-evaluating conditions, terrain and people all day. Watch for the alarm signs: fresh slab avalanches, whumpf sounds and cracks shooting out from your skis.
6. Ride suspect slopes one at a time and regroup in safe spots.
7. Respect the mountain and ride within your limits. Avoiding the avalanche is always the best rescue.

How to read the avalanche bulletin

The avalanche bulletin is a forecast of snow and avalanche conditions for a region. That last word matters: it describes the general picture across an area, not the one slope you are standing above. It gives you three things: a danger level, the typical avalanche problem of the day, and the aspects and elevations where trouble is most likely.

The danger level is built from the probability of an avalanche releasing (naturally or triggered by a rider), how widespread the dangerous slopes are, and the number and size of avalanches expected. Always read the official bulletin for the region you are riding. In Europe, the European Avalanche Warning Services site links to every national and regional forecast.

The avalanche danger scale, level by level

Five levels, used across Europe and North America. The shares of the season and of fatalities below are rough long-term figures from the Alps. They are there to give you a feel for the scale, not to be quoted in court.

Level 1: Low

Generally favourable. No alarm signs, and trigger points are rare and mostly on extremely steep slopes. Ride extremely steep terrain one at a time and mind the fall risk. Roughly a fifth of the winter and around 5% of fatalities. Our take: great touring conditions, if there is enough snow to ride.

Level 2: Moderate

Mostly favourable. Alarm signs are rare, but avalanches can be triggered on very steep slopes in the aspects and elevations named in the bulletin. Large natural avalanches are unlikely. Choose your route carefully, cross very steep slopes one at a time and watch for a weak old snowpack. About half the winter and around a third of fatalities, so moderate does not mean safe. Our take: often the window for bigger lines, with the right aspect and timing.

Level 3: Considerable

A critical situation. Whumpfs and shooting cracks are typical. Avalanches trigger easily on steep slopes in the named aspects and elevations, and natural or remotely triggered slides are possible. This is the most dangerous level for recreational riders: around 30% of the winter and roughly half of all fatalities. Careful route choice and risk reduction are a must, very steep slopes in the named aspects are out, and less experienced riders belong on secured runs. Our take: this is often when the snow is best, which is exactly why people get caught. Mellow angles, conservative terrain, and no ego.

Level 4: High

An acute situation. Alarm signs are frequent, avalanches trigger easily on many steep slopes, remote triggering is typical and large natural avalanches are likely. Stay on moderately steep terrain and well clear of runout zones. Only a few days each winter, around 10% of fatalities. Our take: it may be the powder day of the season. Enjoy it inside the resort.

Level 5: Very high

A catastrophic situation. Many large natural avalanches, with villages and roads under threat. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended. Very rarely forecast. Our take: morning après-ski. Nobody needs a run this badly.

Keep going

Next up: sort your beacon, shovel and probe, then learn to plan a tour with the 3x3 method. Want to learn it on snow with people who do this for a living? Avalanche awareness is part of our freeride camps and touring trips.

Quick answers

Which avalanche danger level is the most dangerous?

For recreational riders, level 3 (considerable). The snow is often good, plenty of people are out, and avalanches trigger easily. Around half of avalanche fatalities happen at this level.

Is it safe to ride off-piste at level 2?

Safer, not safe. About a third of fatalities happen at level 2, usually on very steep slopes in the aspects and elevations the bulletin warned about.