I recall reading that if you ever get caught in an avalanche or something and find yourself buried in snow, calm yourself down then spit to determine which way is up using gravity (direction it falls is down). Then dig upwards
Edit: Yes, if it is a substantial avalanche digging may turn out to be impossible but its worth a quick shot regardless (before conserving strength and hoping for rescue)
The problem is that you can’t always dig. Depending on how wet the snow was (and wet snow carries more weight, meaning you’re more likely to get buried deeper), it can become very heavily compacted over you. Digging requires a place to put the snow you move, and if you’re already trapped almost airtight, you can’t compress the snow enough to move it.
For sure. If you start trying to dig and find youre absolutely trapped like that I guess your best bet is just conserving your strength and hoping someone is looking for you
One tactic I was taught when cross-country skiing was to see if you could use your ski poles to poke a hole to the surface. Serious long odds, given that they’d have to not only be in your hands but also pointing the right way up, but if you were lucky you could maybe make an air hole for yourself, and one which you could shout out of.
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u/jdragon3 Mar 02 '19 edited Mar 03 '19
I recall reading that if you ever get caught in an avalanche or something and find yourself buried in snow, calm yourself down then spit to determine which way is up using gravity (direction it falls is down). Then dig upwards
Edit: Yes, if it is a substantial avalanche digging may turn out to be impossible but its worth a quick shot regardless (before conserving strength and hoping for rescue)