Information about those killed in the mountains, on the rocks and at Promalpa in 2017
and reports of accidents in the past year
(in bold are “climbers” of countries on the territory of the “former USSR”, for which reliable statistics were collected for 1928-2017 minus 1941-1954)
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Reports of accidents and rescue operations in the mountains, collected over the year on the websites www..vvv.ru and according to media reports (from Buyanov E.V.)
24.01.17 - In Khibiny, 11 Arkhangelsk tourists on snowmobiles were caught in an avalanche. There were three people under the snow. One was saved and his life is now out of danger. Two people died. Today the first causes of death of our tourists in the Murmansk region have been named. One of the main ones is neglect of safety precautions. Presumably, their avalanche sensors were turned off. The group was not registered with rescuers. In these frames, Vladislav Shcherbachev. He conquers Lake Severodvinsk on a snowmobile. At an extreme sports show, the athlete stays on the water the longest. - Of course, we could have prepared, covered everything with tape, but I didn’t want to bother with it, I thought it worked the first time, so it would work the second time. Vladislav’s extraordinary hobbies were broadcast on Vesti Pomorye three years ago. He, like his friend Dmitry Serov, could not live without adrenaline. Dmitry, moreover, held a responsible position. He was the chief power engineer of Russian television and radio networks in Arkhangelsk. Viktor Ryumin, chief engineer of the Arkhangelsk RTTC: - Cool guy, if there were any difficulties, say, among the workers, he would drop everything just to help the person. He liked to work on something, to start something new. This vacation in Khibiny was long-awaited for Dmitry, colleagues say. The past year in the service turned out to be very stressful. Together with Vladislav, he set off on a snowmobile to conquer the mountain peaks near Kirovsk. But the friends were not destined to return from the hike. In the Murmansk region they were caught in an avalanche. Alexander Beletsky, tourist-athlete: “I believe that they were one of the best extreme sports athletes in the Arkhangelsk region. Before the trip, avalanches were actively discussed, many of the guys even bought avalanche backpacks, so-called probes, some kind of preparation was carried out, well, they might have overestimated themselves a little. Like-minded extreme sports enthusiasts say that Vladislav and Dmitry were quite experienced tourists. However, according to preliminary information, the avalanche sensors of the victims were turned off. The group that included the guys did not register with the rescuers.” Vladimir Gusev, head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Murmansk region: “For two hours, rescuers of the Murmansk Arctic search and rescue team carried out search operations; a total of 44 people and 17 pieces of equipment were involved in the operation.” Both Vladislav and Dmitry were a little over thirty. In connection with the death of tourists in the Murmansk region, a criminal case has been opened under the article of causing death due to negligence . Tourists: minus 2. 27.01.17 - An industrial climber crashed in Alekseevsky. Last week, an accident occurred in the Alekseevsky district. An industrial climber died after falling from a six-story building on Mira Avenue. This was reported by a source in law enforcement agencies. -According to preliminary data, a climber who was clearing snow from the roof of a building at 106 Mira Avenue, where the Zvezda TV channel is located, tried to clear a place that his hand could not reach. But since the life belt was in his way, he decided to remove it. The worker slipped, was unable to maintain his balance and fell from the roof of the building, the source said. Arriving emergency personnel pronounced him dead. Climbers: minus 1. 29.01.17 - The climber died in the mountains of Armenia. Several people got lost in the mountains near the village of Shagat in the Syunik region of Armenia, rescuers found the body of one of the climbers, another was hospitalized in the medical center of the city of Sisian. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia, a group of rescuers was sent to help the lost climbers. “On January 29, at 02:50, a citizen received a signal from the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations that he and his friends were lost in the mountains of the village of Shagat: the help of rescuers is required. One combat crew left for the scene,” says a message posted on the website of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia . The report also notes that at around eight in the morning, rescuers found 26-year-old V.A., who was taken to the medical center of the city of Sisian, where his condition was assessed as satisfactory. “At 08:37, the body of S.D., born in 1993, was found,” the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported. Information on the number of climbers lost in the area of the village of Shagat has not yet been received. Source:Caucasian Knot
Anatoly ( [email protected]) Climbers: minus 2. In memory of fellow climbers A dead climber was found on Elbrus. February 3, 2017 A climber died on the eastern slope of Elbrus. According to preliminary data, he fell to his death after falling off a cliff while climbing. There has not yet been any information about the identity of the climber from official sources. As reported by the Interfax-South agency with reference to Kantemir Berov, who heads the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation for Kabardino-Balkaria, rescuers have already managed to find the body of the deceased climber. The first emergency signals arrived at the emergency services console at 12:17 Moscow time. Eyewitnesses from a group that passed near the scene of the incident told about the incident. A fatal incident was recorded in the Gara Bashi area on the eastern slope of Elbrus. The climber was at an altitude of about 3600 meters. He fell from a cliff and suffered fatal injuries. Elbrus, whose height is more than 5600 meters, is the highest mountain peak in our country. Despite the fact that professional climbers rate its routes as quite simple, according to various sources, about several dozen climbers die there every year. Let us remind you that previously very experienced mountain conquerors also became victims of various types of emergency situations on Elbrus. About a year ago, Oleg Lobachev fell into a crack in the Terskol glacier. Being at an altitude of more than three thousand meters, he himself reached the rescuers. In the fall of 2014, the famous climber from Ingushetia, Leila Albogachieva, died on Elbrus. The 46-year-old climber, who was planning to conquer the peak alone, wanted to record an appeal there to world leaders to urge them to stop hostilities on our planet. Author: Anna Ivanova
Affiliation: in question? (-1?) 02/07/16 - As a result of an avalanche in the Shymbulak gorge, Russian citizen Alexey Belosludtsev, who worked at the Universiade as a technical judge in the ski cross discipline, died. This happened in the morning when he was skiing on the slopes of the gorge. “The accident occurred as a result of skating outside the Universiade sports tracks. According to a friend of the deceased, they specially selected slopes with untouched snow for freeride, realizing that these were places prohibited for skiing,” - reported the press service of the Universiade . Skiers: minus 1. At least five climbers died on Thursday in the Italian Alps as a result of the collapse of part of a glacier, reports Rainews 24 TV channel. A group of climbers were climbing in the province of Valle d'Aosta on the border with France. The cause of their death was the collapse of the so-called icefall "hanging" ice on a steep mountainside. Another climber was injured. One of the victims was reportedly evacuated by helicopter. This is the second incident in recent days in this part of the Alps. On Monday, an avalanche covered a group of tourists on the French side of the mountain range, killing four In early February, an avalanche hit a group of skiers in the province of Udine in the north-eastern Italian Alps, injuring two people.A series of earthquakes and heavy snowfalls triggered an avalanche on January 18, which buried the Rigopiano Hotel in the Gran Sasso mountain range in the Abruzzo region. In the week following this tragedy, rescuers managed to find and pull out 11 surviving people and the bodies of 29 dead from under the snow rubble. Alexander Logunov RIA News March 4 – Olga Gorozhanina - 27-year-old athlete Olga Gorozhanina died on Lake Baikal during the Baikalism mountaineering competition. The girl came from Bishkek, but is a citizen of Russia. The competition is taking place as part of the International Festival of Winter Games on Lake Baikal "Zimniada-2017", the first stage of the mountaineering competition, where the tragedy occurred, took place in the area of 143 - 148 km of the Circum-Baikal Railway. The organizers of “Baikalism” are the Baikal Mountaineering School and the Irkutsk Mountaineering Section. During the competition, an accident occurred - a fall at 25 m. The victim was Olga Gorozhanina (Bishkek city). TBI, polytrauma. Relatives have been notified, the Angara.net website reports. According to the press service of the regional Directorate of the Investigative Committee, after falling off the cliff, rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations evacuated the athlete and took her to the hospital in the city of Slyudyanka, but on the way the girl died from her injuries. The Investigative Committee is conducting a pre-investigation investigation into the incident. After all the circumstances have been clarified, procedural action will be taken. decision to initiate criminal proceedings or refuse .
(climbers: minus 3)
Siberian ( [email protected]) 03/04/17 An avalanche covered a group of skiers in the Italian Alps. Moscow. 2nd of March. INTERFAX.RU - An avalanche covered a group of 20 skiers in the resort of Courmayeur in northern Italy, three of them were found dead, the Italian publication reports Leggo. (03/07/2017) - Avalanche in the French resort of Tignes. Everyone is alive Today, March 7, 2017, at about 10 am, an avalanche covered about 30 people in the popular French ski resort of Tignes. A huge mass of snow and ice descended onto the blue track. The area was immediately closed for rescue efforts. Quite quickly it became clear that mostly people escaped with minor injuries, most of them got out on their own. By noon, the gendarmes confirmed the information that there were no deaths, as well as. 03.23.17 A climber died in the canton of Valais. A 47-year-old man died last Monday, March 21, while climbing to the top of the Hinter-Fischerhorn in the Aletsch glacier area in the canton of Valais - The tragic incident occurred at 14.45 local time at 4025 meters above sea level. According to cantonal police, two men left the Concordia hut along the route Ewigschneefud by ski. Later at the foot Fieschersattel the ascent continued without skis. At some point during the ascent, one of the climbers fell down, falling from a height of about two hundred meters. The fall turned out to be fatal - the man died. According to preliminary information, the man was not a Swiss citizen. The police are investigating the circumstances of the death of a foreigner. Author: Andreas Gasparin
03.28.17 - In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, a climber died after falling from a cliff. In the area of the Torgashinsky ridge in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, a young climber fell off a cliff. The guy died after falling from a seven-meter height. A company of young people, two boys and two girls, were walking through picturesque places near Krasnoyarsk. At about 5 p.m., one of the guys, who was fond of rock climbing, decided to demonstrate his skills in this matter. He planned to climb to the top of a steep cliff. At some point, grabbing a stone, he could not hold on and lost his balance. A 21-year-old climber fell to the ground from a height of 7 meters, suffering head and internal injuries. When the ambulance arrived, the guy was still alive, but they couldn’t get him to the hospital alive. The Main Investigative Directorate of the regional Investigative Committee reported that an investigation into this fact had been launched and a forensic examination had been ordered. Friends of the deceased said that he had experience in rock climbing. Their friend climbed the rocks of the Torgashinsky ridge and Stolby more than once. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich - RIA Correspondent VistaNews Climbers: minus 4 Monday, April 10, 2017, 4:12 +03:00 from ... (message) Dear Evgeniy Vadimovich! I am a simple reader of your materials about tourism and Internet safety. I followed the discussion about the death of the Dyatlov group with great interest, and naturally watched the film. Unlike the “conspiracy theories,” your avalanche version seems to me the most probable, because it does not require the involvement of forces other than natural elements. Somehow, in connection with avalanches, I decided to send you material about yesterday’s tragedy in Kamchatka in the Vilyuchinskaya Sopka region. Alas, I was not there myself - the information was obtained from groups on social networks. I don't know if it will be of interest. Here's what they wrote on social networks on April 9: +79146280010: People caught in an avalanche on a volcano in Kamchatka were dug out from under the snow. 09 April 2017, 21:44 On the slope of the Vilyuchinsky volcano in Kamchatka, a father and son who were trapped under a rubble were dug out from under an avalanche, sources in the region’s emergency services told KamINFORM. “They had practically no chance to survive under such rubble. The search was carried out by people who were there at the time of the incident. According to preliminary data, the dead did not have any special equipment. A lot of snow has melted,” say the agency’s interlocutors. Earlier, KamINFORM reported that rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations had not yet reached the site. The departing helicopter returned to Petropavlovsk. He was unable to land on the spot due to wind turbulence and darkness. A convoy of rescuers continues to approach the site. An avalanche occurred today on the northeastern slope of the volcano. At the time of the incident, there were about 40 people on the scene - snowmobilers, skiers, and snowboarders. They carried out soundings and dug snow. In the end, they found the dead. Father and son, according to preliminary data, cut off the avalanche themselves on their snowmobile. There was about 5 meters of snow above them. +7924***0976: We drove there an hour before the avalanche. We returned immediately when we heard on the radio that an avalanche had occurred. We arrived at the place and saw the volume of snow. Many people were already there. They were digging snow. There were only three probes. As always, there was no organization. They dug everywhere. I climbed the slope and called the skidding group on the radio, since they had avalanche equipment with them. We arrived, lined up in a chain and, according to all the rules, began to “pierce” the avalanche. But as it turned out, even a 3.20 probe is just a matter of picking your nose, there is 5-8 meters of snow. We probed as much as we could. But no results. Guys, take care of yourselves. Take avalanche courses and carry avalanche equipment. Here is the information from April 10: A convoy with rescuers moved to the volcano area the night before. Currently, specialists are two kilometers from the avalanche site. The further journey is only possible on snowmobiles. Rescuers are currently being transferred directly to the incident area. Emergency Situations Ministry employees brought equipment to search for people. This morning another convoy of rescuers - more than 20 people on 14 pieces of equipment - left for the volcano. They also take search equipment with them. Together with representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, employees of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences are traveling with a ground penetrating radar - a device with which you can search for people under avalanches at a depth of up to 10 meters. An Mi-8 helicopter is preparing to fly to the volcano area. Yesterday, due to bad weather conditions, the helicopter was unable to land there and was forced to return to the city. As reported by the Kam 24 news agency, on the afternoon of April 9, an avalanche descended from the northern slope of the Vilyuchinsky volcano. Presumably, two people could have been caught under the snow mass - a man and a child who were riding a snowmobile. There were several dozen vacationers in the emergency area who organized the search on their own. Information was spread on social networks in Kamchatka that a man and a child had been dug up. However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not confirm this data. The Russian Investigative Committee has begun an investigation into the disappearance of two people on the volcano. Vilyuchinsky volcano is located southwest of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, about 70 kilometers from the city. The height of the giant is 2175 meters above sea level. Thus, two more - Igor and Alexey Sinitsky - have joined the mournful list. Good luck to you, health, love and kindness! And interesting adventures! Tourists: minus 4. 04/11/17 - help save Andrey Egovtsev. Rescuers have stopped working to extract a tourist trapped in an ice crevice. A tourist from Prokopyevsk, Andrey Vitalievich Egovtsev, born on July 12, 1985, fell into a crevice in the Altai mountains. His friend told the rescuers about this. He said that he and a friend went hiking in the Aktru Gorge area. While descending from the Maashey pass, Andrei fell into a crevice. This happened on March 31st. His friend tried to pull him out on his own, but failed and then turned to rescuers for help. A group of rescuers of 7 people arrived in the Kosh-Agach region, Ak-Tru mountaineering camp on the morning of April 1 and immediately headed to the scene of the incident. Due to a snowstorm and strong wind, rescuers were forced to stop in the Blue Lakes area. On April 2, the weather did not allow them to continue their journey all day. On April 3 at 8:30 am, rescuers moved to the scene, but the weather continued to be unfavorable. They need to overcome about 12 km over difficult rough terrain. Information about the tourist's condition is inaccurate; they say he is alive, but with severe frostbite on his extremities. The agency also notes that before the start of the hike, Prokopyevsk tourists did not register with rescuers. On April 9, 2017, rescuers stopped working to extract the tourist. During excavations, a greenhouse effect appeared and there was a high probability that he was alive. Now Altai rescuers have stopped working to extract the tourist, because they pose a danger. At the moment, a group of volunteer climbers led by Anatoly Tomilov, a climber from Prokopyevsk, is moving to Altai to continue search and rescue work. Need help raising funds for transportation by helicopter . Tourists: minus 5 (1?). 04/23/17 - As a result of an avalanche in the Retezat National Park in Romania, a group of tourists found themselves under the snow. As a result of the incident, two minor climbers died, including the “romanian climbing prodigy,” as the media called her, 14-year-old Geta Popescu. The second death was another promising Romanian climber - 13-year-old Eric Gulachi, who managed to visit Elbrus. Five people received non-life-threatening injuries, three of them were nevertheless hospitalized in medical facilities in the Hunedoara district. The bodies of the victims were pulled out from under the snow by rescuers. They are scheduled to be lowered down tomorrow. Rescuers continue to work at the scene. The rescue operation, according to the head of the emergency services, Raed Arafat, was complicated by bad weather, which did not allow a helicopter to be promptly dispatched to the emergency site. The day before, regional authorities issued a special warning about the danger of avalanches and recommended climbers to stay near the sites. The dead were young athletes with climbing experience. In particular, Popescu conquered the highest peak of South America, Aconcagua, and Gulachi climbed climbing Elbrus in Russia. 04/27/17 – Elena Shuvalova, 38 years old, born in 1979, and Andrey Belov, 50 years old, born in 1967, died. A man and a woman crashed while climbing Elbrus. The group of climbers consisted of four people, two of them fell from the eastern slope of Mount Elbrus Tskhinval, April 27 Sputnik. Two climbers died on Elbrus, a man died on the spot, a woman died during transportation down, the head of the Elbrus high-mountain search and rescue team of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations Abdullah Guliyev told RIA Novosti. The work of rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation Sputnik/ Alexander Utkin Ministry of Emergency Situations: the missing climber from Moscow on Kazbek was never found On Thursday morning, rescuers received a message that on the eastern side of Mount Elbrus, approximately at an altitude of 4.9 thousand meters, two climbers fell. The man died and the woman suffered head injuries. The group of climbers consisted of four people. “The woman who suffered an open skull fracture, unfortunately, also died when they began to take her down,” Guliyev said. He clarified that both victims were guides on Elbrus and lived in Nalchik. Climbers: minus 6. Previously . Later a message was received: FINAL INFORMATION ON NS from 04/27/17 ON ELBRUS On April 27, 2017 at 6 o’clock in the morning the Crisis Management Center of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic received a message from an eyewitness that on the slope of Elbrus at approximately 4900 m there was a breakdown of two people. Elbrus VPSO allocated 13 rescuers and 2 units of equipment to search and evacuate victims. At 08.30, rescuers found the victims: a man suffered injuries incompatible with life, a woman received multiple fractures. Later there was information that during the evacuation to Azau the woman’s pulse stopped. It was also reported that both climbers climbed as part of a group of four people from Nalchik, two of whom were experienced climbers who worked as guides on Elbrus. According to the information that CTC received from official messages of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, from participants in the rescue operation, witnesses and people who knew the victims closely, the following happened: guides - Elena Shuvalova, 38 years old, born in 1979, and Andrey Belov, 50 years old, born in 1967 .R. - led two Russian clients to the Western Peak. The day before, April 26, they made an acclimatization trip to the Pastukhov rocks and returned to the trailer hut on Gara-bashi at 18:00. We decided not to have a rest day due to the forecast for worsening weather from April 28th. At 01:20 the group started to climb. We climbed to the Pastukhov rocks in this order: Shuvalova - clients - Belov. Behind them were two more people, who, when the group passed Shelter-11, asked permission to join the group, and the guides were not against it. After a short rest on the Pastukhov rocks, the movement continued, with Belov standing behind Shuvalova, followed by the clients. Shuvalova from the rocks of Pastukhova began to use an ice ax, the rest walked with trekking poles. The climb took place at an average pace, no one complained about anything. The emergency occurred in the area of a frozen snowcat, approximately at the level of 4900-5000 m, at 5 o'clock. 48 min. According to an eyewitness, Elena turned around while moving and at that moment fell. Andrey tried to catch her, literally jumped down the slope after her and even partially covered her with himself. Shuvalova slid down the slope on her stomach, head up, trying to cut herself off, Belov slowed down with his hands. Everything happened, according to an eyewitness, “silently and with calm faces.” Soon the guides disappeared from the sight of the clients, but the latter were sure that nothing bad could happen. Clients tried to contact both guides on their mobile phones, but they did not answer, then a call to the Ministry of Emergency Situations followed. The rescuers forbade the clients to descend on their own and instructed them to wait for them on the spot (the clients stood up to the frozen snowcat). At 9 o'clock, rescuers approached the snowcat and evacuated the clients downstairs, at the same time informing them about the death of the guides. Two people who joined the group at Shelter 11 continued their ascent. Both climbers who died were not wearing helmets. Shuvalova had cats " Grivel » with soft fastening. No safety rope or ice screws were used. The fall down the slope occurred approximately 400 m. The cause of the failure could be: loss of balance when turning the body, as well as as a result of a technical error when placing the crampon, getting caught on uneven terrain, or the teeth of the crampon catching on a trouser leg or flashlight. The general background could be fatigue as a result of lack of recovery and lack of sleep last night. It is worth noting the following detail, described by an eyewitness: Elena had some kind of playing device with external speakers in her backpack, and as she walked, she listened to something like a story or lecture. Denis Alimov, who took his group on an acclimatization trip to Pastukhov’s tales the day before, on April 26, noted: “We only reached the upper rocks. They didn’t go to Pastukhov. The slope both that day and the next was very bad, hard, bottle ice. Before our eyes, four stood at the “corpse collector”, and two stood on the Oblique Shelf for about an hour. But by lunchtime, everything softened under the sun, and they went up to the saddle.” Evgeny Gavrilov, who climbed on the same day and at the same time as Belov’s group, testifies: “This group and I lived in the same hut at Gara-bashi station. The guys started from Gara-bashi, did not use snowmobiles or snowcats, and approached the ice section quite tired, especially since the previous day they had a difficult acclimatization trip to the Pastukhov rocks; they did not have a day of rest before the ascent. The sun melted the remaining snow on the slope, and overnight it became completely icy. As far as I saw, the quality of their equipment was also, to put it mildly, not very good; not everyone even had ice axes! (this season, without very well sharpened crampons and the ability to walk on them, there is absolutely nothing to do on Elbrus). As a result, a little short of reaching the snowcat at “5000”, both guides lost their nerve. There were several breakdowns that day, but without such tragic consequences.” According to comrades who knew them closely, the victims had quite significant experience in climbing Elbrus: Shuvalova had about a hundred ascents of Elbrus, Belov had fourteen (but only in the summer). Andrey (a retired officer) had some mountaineering training since the times of the USSR, while Lena, despite her extensive Elbrus experience, had significant gaps in mountaineering techniques and in organizing safety. This was most likely due to the fact that in the commercial travel agency with which she began working as a guide, the attitude towards safety issues was very superficial: a person could be invited to work as a guide on winter Elbrus with experience of one ascent on summer Elbrus, which was considered sufficient for clients two-day acclimatization in the mountains, etc. CTC does not undertake, in this case, the mission of searching for connections and reasons why a number of gross errors and shortcomings from a safety point of view were made during such an experience, leaving readers to think about this issue themselves. The investigative authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria carried out a pre-investigation check into the death of the climbers. This is the second tragedy and the third death on Elbrus since the beginning of the year: on February 6, in the area of the Gara-bashi station, approximately at an altitude of 3600 m, a person fell from a cliff. The rescuers received a message from an eyewitness to a group passing nearby. During search and rescue operations, the body of the deceased tourist was discovered. CTC emphasizes that climbing Elbrus, despite the accompaniment of experienced guides, ascent on snowcats and snowmobiles, the use of oxygen and enthusiastic and victorious reviews of anonymous users on the websites of some travel agencies, remains a life-threatening undertaking, especially in the winter-spring period. KTK recommends carefully, through monitoring a variety of sources and opinions, choosing firms and companies to which you plan to entrust your health and life on such ascents. The CTC notes that a standard investigation with clarification of all details and organizational conclusions was not carried out, because this case is outside the jurisdiction of the commission, and this information is only a warning to everyone, who considers climbing Elbrus a walk?… 04/27/17 - A climber from Taiwan was found alive in the Himalayas, 47 days after he and his girlfriend went missing, the BBC reports. According to the source, the young climbers were last seen on March 9 in central Nepal, when they set out on a trek despite heavy snowfall. Bad weather has complicated the search for missing tourists. The youth, 21, was rescued near the village of Tipling after the missing youths were spotted by several local residents. He is currently undergoing treatment in one of the hospitals in the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, and his life is not in danger. His 19-year-old girlfriend died. 04/30/17. - Ueli Steck died this morning, Sunday April 30, 2017, during an acclimatization trip on the slopes of Nuptsee. Rescuers found his body. It looks like Uli slipped on the ice slope. The famous Swiss mountaineer Steck died trying to conquer Everest. Legendary Swiss climber Ueli Steck died while attempting to speed climb Everest. As reported by AFP, a rescue team discovered the body of a 41-year-old extreme sportsman in the southwestern section of Everest. He fell off an icy slope and died. Steck arrived in the region in early April to set a record for climbing Everest without oxygen tanks. Steck is known for a number of speed records for climbing the highest peaks of the Himalayas and Alps. In 2014, after a dangerous climb to Annapurna, he promised that he would not attempt Everest because he had “gone too far and seen death.” 05/03/17 - A climber from Germany died on Tuesday while climbing Mount Illimani, the second highest peak in Bolivia with a height of almost 6.5 thousand meters, the DPA agency reported. The young man, who was 29 years old, went to the mountains with a Bolivian guide. They were covered by an avalanche, but the climber's companion survived and escaped with only minor injuries. The body of a German citizen, discovered after an 18-hour search operation, was taken to the city of La Paz. Illimani (6,439 m) is the second highest mountain in Bolivia. An array of four peaks towers over La Paz, which is only 30 km away. According to TASS materials 6.05 17 - Min Bahadur Sherkhan ( Min Bahadur Sherchan) - the world's oldest climber from Nepal died on May 6 at base camp while attempting to re-climb Everest and become the oldest conqueror of the mountain. Reuters reported this on Saturday, May 6, citing the head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tsering Sherpa. According to him, Sherkhan died on the mountainside at the age of 85 from heart failure. The Ministry of Tourism of Nepal confirmed the death of the climber, but could not provide details, citing poor communication with the camp. Nepal has set a minimum age of 16 years to climb the planet's highest peak (8,848 meters), but there is no upper limit. Currently, the oldest climber to conquer Everest is 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura ( Yuichiro Miura). On April 30, the famous Swiss climber, 40-year-old Ueli Steck, died on Everest. He was at the top of Nuptse to acclimatise, after which he planned to climb the world's highest peak in May using a completely new route. For his endurance and dedication, Stack was nicknamed the Swiss Machine. He has set several records for ultra-fast solo ascents on classic routes. In 2015, he conquered all 82 Alpine peaks above four thousand meters in 62 days. Throughout the history of the conquest of Everest More than 250 people died on its slopes. 05/13/17 - Nastya Klimochkina died. Tourist club of MSTU named after N.E. Bauman. Rafting along the river. Nastya Klimochkina died in the Upper Rioni in Georgia. A kind, sunny, cheerful person, an excellent comrade, has passed away! Strength to Nastya’s family and friends and everyone who knew her to survive this irreparable loss! Many people met Nastya at schools, outings, rallies, competitions, and went on hikes together. And no matter how hard it was, she smiled and shared her energy and positivity with those around her. A person is alive as long as he is remembered. So let's forever preserve the memory of the friends who went on the last trip, and do everything in our power to prevent tragedies from happening again. We mourn! Nastya buried at the New Volyubertskoye Cemetery Tourists: minus 6. 05/15/17 - A climber who fell to his death died at Eagle Rocks in Sochi - Grigory Tkachenko, 64 years old, (Sochi). VIDEO. The day before, on May 14, at about 5 o’clock in the evening, a man called YURPSO and reported that a climber had fallen from Eagle Rocks. According to him, the victim lost consciousness and received injuries of varying severity. Rescuers who arrived at the scene found the climber on one of the rocky areas. With the help of climbing equipment, he was lowered to the ground and transported on a rigid stretcher to the Agur Gorge tourist trail. On the descent, the man’s pulse stopped being palpable, and it was decided to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Emergency medical personnel who arrived on call continued to try to resuscitate the man, but to no avail, the man died. Rescuers handed over his body to the police, reports the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. It is known that the deceased resident of Sochi was born in 1953. Photo: press service of YURPSO EMERCOM of Russia . Climbers: minus 7. 05/22/17 - Four climbers died on Everest. Information from various sources. The bodies of three climbers were found on Everest, another climber went missing, Gazeta.ru reports. The dead were citizens of the United States, Slovakia and Australia. Among the dead are US citizen Roland Yearwood, Slovakian Vladimir Strba and Australian Francesco Enrico Marchetti. An Indian climber is listed as missing. Local authorities are working to find him. Alas, the body of an Indian climber was found! The body of an Indian climber was found on the southern slope of Everest NEW DELHI, May 22. /Corr. TASS Evgenia Karmalito/. A search and rescue team has found the body of a 27-year-old Indian climber who disappeared two days ago while descending from Everest. This was announced by the head of the Nepal Mountaineering Federation, Ang Tsering Sherpa. “Contact with Ravi Kumar, who arrived to climb Everest from the city of Moradabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was lost after noon on Saturday, when he safely reached the top and headed back,” he said. “All this time, efforts were being made to search for him. Nepalese mountain rescue specialists." According to Chowang Sherpa, managing director of the company Arun Treks, rescuers found the body of an Indian climber about 200 meters from the ascent route. According to preliminary data, the cause of the man’s death was altitude sickness. This climbing season in the Everest region, six climbers have already died from Nepal: five became victims of altitude sickness on the slopes of Everest, another, the famous Swiss climber Ueli Steck, fell to his death during a solo climb to the neighboring seven-thousander peak Nuptse. 05.24.17 -Already 10 climbers have died while conquering Mount Everest since mid-April, when the season for safe climbing of the mountain opened. This is the highest number of victims in recent years. On Tuesday evening, Nepalese Sherpa rescuers discovered the bodies of four more climbers who died on the slope of Everest. The bodies were found in a tent at the last base camp before the Everest summit. The foreigners, a man and a woman, and two Nepali guides who were climbing were found without signs of life by the company’s guides Seven Summit Treks, who lowered the body of Slovakian Vladimir Strba, who died last Sunday, from the top. Presumably the climbers suffocated due to lack of oxygen inside the tent. The names of the victims have not yet been released. Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said it was collecting information about the dead bit by bit. It is known that they were climbing as part of an expedition of a new trekking company and on Sunday they stopped communicating. The time of death of the found climbers has also not yet been established. On May 22, it was reported that three climbers, citizens of the United States, Slovakia and Australia, died on Everest. On May 6, the world's oldest climber, Min Bahadur Sher Khan from Nepal, died while trying to climb Everest again and become the oldest conqueror of the mountain. He died at the age of 85 from heart failure. On April 30, the famous Swiss climber, 40-year-old Ueli Steck, died on Everest. He was at the top of Nuptse to acclimatise, after which he planned to climb the world's highest peak in May using a completely new route. Throughout the history of the conquest of Everest More than 250 people died on its slopes. 06/03/17 - Sergei Timofeev passed away. There is one less good person in this world. Seryozha Timofeev and Timokha left. Master of Sports in mountaineering, "Snow Leopard", winner of two gold and one silver medals at the USSR championships, three gold, three silver and four bronze medals at the Russian championships, participant in five Himalayan expeditions. A bright representative of sports, still Soviet-style, mountaineering has left. Captain of the USSR, RSFSR, RF national team. First among equals. Leader of golden ascents, tactician, principled to the smallest detail and tediousness. He worked and with a strong hand directed the efforts of the entire team to win. His soul ached for mountaineering. Blessed memory to you, Seryoga. Condolences to family and friends. Everlasting memory!
Many dangers await climbers, snowboarders and ski lovers. But the most inexorable and unpredictable of them are avalanches. What are they? Below is a detailed classification of avalanches.
According to Tushinsky
Back in 1949, Professor Georgy Tushinsky proposed a typology of snow avalanches based on differences in the specifics of movement paths.
The geographer divided the types of snow masses descending from the mountains into:
- Tray. They move along a strictly fixed vector from glacial trenches, as well as from craters formed as a result of the destruction of rocks.
- Basics. When a gap forms in a layer of snow and part of the mass slides down a flat slope, on which there are no erosion cuts or furrows.
- Jumping. On the path of the site there are steep cliffs from which snow slides into free fall.
By the nature of movement and structure of mass
A dust avalanche is formed from dry snow. During the movement, the structure of the mass is destroyed and creates a cloud of snow dust. The speed of snow avalanches of this type can reach 250 km/h. It is the most dangerous and destructive.
The same classification of avalanches established the presence of so-called “snow slabs”. They are formed from a layer of fine-grained dry snow with a density of up to 400 kg per cubic meter, under which there is a less dense snow mass. Hollow areas form under the slabs, which destroy the top layer and provoke its subsidence.
When the imbalance reaches a critical point, a stepped separation line is formed, perpendicular to the surface of the mass, and a collapse occurs over a large area, the speed of which can reach 200 km/h.
There is also an “avalanche from a point”. It is formed from wet snow in the form of a huge drop coming off a rocky outcrop. This occurs due to the heating of the rocks, as a result of which the lower layer of the mass is fed with moisture, becomes heavier and begins to shift. Most snow avalanches of this type can be observed in spring. Their speed does not exceed 120 km/h.
In the summer season, hydraulic avalanches often occur, in which masses move that resemble mudflows in composition: they contain a mixture of stones, water, soil and snow.
Due to the occurrence
Based on this criterion, in 1984 V. Akkuratova proposed the following typology:
- Blizzard avalanches
They are formed from the redistribution of the upper layer due to the transfer of masses during a snowstorm. Wind-blown accumulations of snow grains are deposited in relief depressions. The rate of formation of a snowstorm layer depends on the structure of the relief, as well as on the speed of the snowstorm.
- Advection
They are formed as a result of water seeping into a layer of snow, which causes its structure to be destroyed and the lower layer to thaw and the connections between dense clusters of snowflakes to break.
- Avalanches of dry “young” snow
During intense snowfall, a fresh layer is formed on the surface of the mass, consisting of crystals with a density of no more than 200 kg per 1 cubic meter.
The stability of this structure depends on the strength of adhesion, as well as on the area of contact with the “old” layer and on the rate of accumulation of dry crystals.
- Avalanches caused by metamorphism
Due to the deformation of the structure of ice particles and the connections between them, snow recrystallization occurs, as a result of which loosened layers appear in the upper cover. This leads to an avalanche.
- Insolation
Snow absorbs solar energy, under the influence of which it begins to move. The movement speed is relatively low.
- Mixed
The movement of snow masses occurs due to an increase in air temperature with the simultaneous accumulation of solar energy in the snow.
- Avalanches triggered by snow compression
They are formed as a result of overvoltages arising from an increase in the density of snow masses caused by a strong decrease in air temperature.
Classifications by strength and level of danger
Based on the volume and approximate weight of the moving layer, avalanches can be divided into five types:
- A disaster capable of destroying a populated area or having a destructive impact on a vast area of forest (more than 4,000 km²);
- Sliding of minor accumulations of snow that are not capable of causing harm to humans;
- An avalanche that can destroy a forest area of up to 4,000 km², as well as damage buildings, vehicles and equipment;
- A slight shift in the snow mass that can harm a person;
- A medium-sized avalanche capable of breaking trees and damaging cars and buildings.
If we talk directly about the danger of an avalanche for humans, then it is usually assessed on a 5-point scale:
The danger is negligible. There is a minimal chance of snow melting, but in general the surface is dense and stable. The conditions are quite reliable for holding events.
The formation of an avalanche is possible only in critical areas of the relief, subject to additional pressure on the slope by the movement of several athletes along it. In quiet areas, you can load slopes with a steepness of up to 50 degrees. It is advisable not to lay routes through problem areas with an inclination angle of more than 45 degrees.
Medium level of danger. At some points on the slope there is a decrease in density and slight destabilization. On steep terrain there is an increased risk of an avalanche. Spontaneous shift of snow masses is unlikely.
Events are permitted if the organizers take into account the structure of the terrain and the specific conditions at the sites. It is allowed to strain normal slopes with an angle of up to 40 degrees. In areas with problematic terrain, loads at an angle of up to 35 degrees are permissible.
Increased danger. On most slopes, the snow masses are unstable and have a loose structure. The probability of an avalanche is high. The most dangerous points are steep slopes. Spontaneous avalanches of medium strength and single falls of large volumes of snow are expected. Events are allowed, but only if their participants are only experienced athletes who have sufficient knowledge of avalanche science, are familiar with the geography of the region, and do not plan to go to high-risk areas. Groups of athletes are prohibited on most routes. The permissible load is on slopes forming an angle of up to 35° in normal areas and up to 30° in dangerous areas.
The snow cover is not compacted and unstable in the vast majority of areas. The probability of an avalanche is high even with a slight load on the slope surface. Movement of groups of athletes is prohibited. Only single events are allowed.
Only professional athletes who are well acquainted with the geography of the area, have impeccable knowledge of avalanche science and good intuition, and are ready to return to base at the slightest suspicion, are allowed to enter the route. Loading in normal and potentially hazardous areas is permitted on slopes up to 25° and 20°, respectively.
Catastrophic danger. Snow masses are mobile and unpredictable. Events are strictly prohibited. Large volume avalanches are occurring on all slopes, regardless of the degree of inclination.
It is not difficult to say how avalanches occur: on steep mountain slopes, individual layers of snow or the entire snow cover lose adhesion to the ground or underlying layer. Due to the enormous weight of the snow, stress occurs within the snow mass, leading to cracks; along them it blurs and slides down.
Of course, in reality the science of avalanches is much more complex, because snow is not a dead mass, falling to the ground from the clouds, it is constantly changing. At first it forms, depending on the temperature and wind strength, a relatively light and loose cover. Sometimes minor disturbances in the structure of the snow cover can set an avalanche into motion.
Even slight heating on a sunny afternoon can increase the tension between the upper and lower layers of snow so much that it will lead to the excavation of a snow shelf. This cause of avalanches is considered the most common.
The four most dangerous types of avalanches:
1. Dry avalanches consisting of loose snow are very dangerous. They rush into the valley at high speed and are accompanied by a monstrous shock wave that crushes even massive concrete barriers. They are formed according to the principle of a growing snowball.
2. Glacial avalanches, which occur, in particular, when the tongue of a glacier is torn off, are especially dangerous. Despite their incredible heaviness, they develop very high speeds. They have forces that can grind even rock-hard ice into powder. Such avalanches have caused many devastating disasters.
3. The term “soil”, “soil” and “surface” avalanche refers to layers of snow cover that begin to move; ground and soil avalanches slide down the slope and cause its powerful erosion; After the snow melts, the carried-away material settles on the valley floor. In contrast, surface avalanches slide into a valley over deep, very stable layers of snow.
4. Snow shelves break off along one long line and slide into the valley along their entire width directly along the ground or along an unstable snow layer.
FACTORS PROVOKING AN AVALANCHE
It is not difficult to say how avalanches occur: on steep mountain slopes, individual layers of snow or the entire snow cover lose adhesion to the ground or underlying layer. Due to the monstrous weight of the snow, tension arises within the snow mass, leading to cracks; along them it blurs and slides down.
However, these days, avalanches are increasingly caused by reckless skiers and snowboarders. Thrill-seekers, despite the prohibitions, leave the safe route for unstable slopes, getting special pleasure from skiing on virgin snow untouched by skiing, and thereby endangering not only their own lives, but also the lives of other people.
FORMATION OF CRYSTALS
During the daily rhythm with its temperature fluctuations, individual snowflakes disintegrate and stick together into crystals.
The surface of the snow cover hardens, forming a crust. Under the weight of the snow, the lower layers are compressed more and more. From the rays of the sun and warm air currents, snowflakes melt and stick together into an icy layer.
If fresh snow falls after this, the danger of avalanches increases sharply for several days, since the new layer initially does not adhere well to the snow crust (which is called firn). Only when it settles and sinteres more firmly with the base does the snow cover again acquire greater stability.
The situation becomes especially dangerous in cases where a lot of snow falls or when the old layer of snow has not yet had time to harden. That's why avalanche watchdogs take drill samples in particularly dangerous areas - mainly on steep slopes, ridges and slopes heavily cut by chutes and humps - and carefully study individual layers. Thus, the uniformity and strength of the entire snow cover is determined. The weaker the individual layers are connected to each other, the higher the risk of avalanches. The situation is assessed based on three factors: the structure of the snow cover, weather conditions (the amount of freshly fallen snow, the strength and direction of the wind) and the terrain (steepness, shape, underlying material, and the direction the slope faces).
Avalanche development
1. Loose snow slides over a layer of denser snow.
2. Having accelerated, the mass of snow can rise into the air.
3. The avalanche picks up speed, sometimes reaching 350 km/h.
Dry avalanche
Dry avalanches consist of loose snow and move especially rapidly.
They begin with small snow landslides, but due to ground shaking and the occurrence of a shock wave they quickly increase
STONES FALLING DOWN
Avalanches also include rock masses that fall down, that is, rockfall, landslide, mudflow.
During a rockfall, individual stones or blocks of stone fall out of a rock wall; with a more powerful collapse, a large mass of stone collapses or rolls down.
A mudflow is an avalanche consisting of a mixture of stones and liquid mud. Such liquid rock avalanches can be caused by precipitation or rapid changes occurring in the ice mass, and the consequences are often catastrophic. So, in 1938, 200 people died in Los Angeles when a mudslide hit the city.
The first victims of the avalanche were military personnel.
The first avalanche victims mentioned in history were warriors. When Hannibal and his army moved north through the Alps in 218 BC, the White Death claimed approximately 18,000 men, 2,000 horses and several elephants.
The largest snow disaster of modern times is also related to the military. In December 1916, during the First World War, about 10,000 soldiers died in avalanches on the Austrian-Italian front in just two days. After a week of continuous snowfall, both warring sides began to fire artillery fire at the slopes located above the enemy positions. The shots caused powerful avalanches that buried entire sections of the front along with the troops.
During the First World War, avalanches in the Tyrolean Alps claimed 60,000 lives. Italian and Austrian troops fought in the highlands for three years, suffering from lack of supplies, cold and snow. One of the soldiers recalled: “Our most terrible enemy was nature... Entire platoons were knocked off their feet, carried into abysses, and fell without a trace.” The worst was December 1916, when 4 m of snow fell in 48 hours, leading to avalanches that killed about 10,000 soldiers on both sides of the front.
In Peru, the May 31, 1979 earthquake and resulting avalanche killed 66,000 people. The force of the tremors reached 7.7 on the Richter scale, the epicenter was located near the large port-industrial city of Chimbote, and the consequences turned out to be the most disastrous in the 20th century. A massive layer of soil and ice fell from Mount Huascaran, demolishing the village of Ranrairca, killing 5,000 residents and burying the mountain resort of Yungay. Almost all of its 20,000 inhabitants died here.
A DECEPTIVE IDYLL
After days of heavy snowfall, the sun finally came out and warmed the western and southern slopes of the mountains. Fresh snow, not yet compacted, began to slide down faster and faster; Soon many small and large avalanches were rushing into the valley. According to experts, on steep slopes their speed reached 400 km/h, which gave the snow masses monstrous energy. Even massive defensive structures and large houses were demolished like toys.
A 300-meter avalanche crashed with a roar in 1999 from the top of Grieskopf, bringing death with it.
In the Austrian Galtür on February 23, 1999, 31 people died in a few minutes, and thousands of visitors and inhabitants of this ski paradise were trapped for many days in the Patznau valley.
At the ruins of Galtür
Rescue and assistance to the victims initially had to be carried out only by local residents and their guest athletes, since the valley was completely cut off from the outside world: the roads were covered with a ten-meter layer of snow. The services responsible for safety in the mountains prohibited rescuers from making their way along the roads into the affected valley due to the high likelihood of new avalanches. Help arrived in the disaster area only the next day by Austrian Air Force helicopters.
Victims are suffocated or crushed
An avalanche can carry up to a million tons of snow from a slope and drive an air shock wave in front of it, which, like a bomb explosion, destroys everything in its path. Whoever meets her on the road will be crushed.
Most avalanche victims die very quickly, as a wall of snow rushing at a speed of 100 km/h or more creates a shock wave; it instantly clogs the victim's lungs and airways with snow, and the person dies from suffocation. People who survive this first onslaught die, caught inside an avalanche, which throws them at great speed into rocks, trees and other obstacles.
The deeper a person is buried under an avalanche, the less chance of getting him out of there alive. After all, if a cubic meter of freshly fallen snow weighs only 60-70 kg, then the compacted snow mass of an avalanche presses on the body with the weight of more than a ton, does not allow breathing and simply flattens a person.
Many avalanche victims suffocate under a meter-long layer of snow, as fresh air does not reach them.
Therefore, rescuers advise that in the event of an accident, if possible, press your palms to your face in order to create at least a small space for air, and then the victim, if he is lucky, can hold out until the rescuers arrive. And also, the use of a special one will help the victim survive for some time under the thick snow until rescuers arrive.
People buried in an avalanche are being searched with probes. This must be done quickly, since after 20 minutes half of the victims die. The chance of rescue increases if rescuers and victims have “” with them, which send and receive signals.
STUDYING AVALANCHES
On February 25, 1999, the Sion Valley in the Swiss Alps shook with a terrible roar. A few seconds later the earth shook and the valley was filled with deafening thunderclaps. 600,000 tons of snow fell down the mountainside at a speed of 300 km/h.
In the middle of an avalanche slope, a group of people sits in a massive bunker. They all clutch their ears, which hurt from the roar. The bunker is covered with a three-meter layer of snow as hard as concrete. However, nothing happened to the people - these are employees of a Swiss institute that studies snow and avalanches. They had just caused an explosion to cause a dry avalanche, the largest in the world. Thus, they observe the most terrible danger that can only lie in wait in the mountains - avalanches, which, despite the enormous costs of protective and rescue measures, claim the lives of 150-200 people year after year in the mountains of Europe alone
To prevent such disasters, Switzerland alone has spent 1.5 billion francs over the past 50 years on building avalanche barriers and another billion on growing forests to block avalanches. And not without success: if in 1951 98 people died under the snow masses, then at the end of the millennium “only” 17. And this despite the fact that now the mountainous areas are more densely populated than before, and besides, many ski athletes come here .
This success is not at all accidental. In the Alpine Republic, a systematic study of the dangers posed by snow has been carried out for more than 70 years. The Central Research Institute is founded near Davos on Mount Weisflujoch (height 2662 m). Scientists from various scientific fields are developing such topics as “Formation of snow cover”, “Snow mechanics and the formation of avalanches”.
The purpose of the research, among other things, is to more accurately and timely predict avalanches and to develop effective protective structures that reduce the damage that avalanches cause to nature and buildings. In its forecasts, the institute works closely with meteorologists, because the danger increases significantly when a lot of fresh snow falls on old snow layers.
Avalanche watches in the Alpine region are installing more and more automatic weather stations, but accurate avalanche forecasts are still not possible. As before, skiers should remember to use reasonable caution in the mountains and avoid dangerous places.
NO ABSOLUTE PROTECTION
Despite all the successes of scientists, avalanches, as before, can unexpectedly leave the slope. They are born from time to time even in the most seemingly safe places. Sometimes even expensive protective structures are unable to contain them. Until now, not all factors have been studied that lead to the fact that snow masses begin to move, crush everything that gets in their way, and drag what is captured down.
PHOTOS OF AVALANCHES IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE WORLD or DEADLY BEAUTY:
Bezengi wall. Avalanche from Dzhangi-Tau. Photo-Baskakov Andrey
Avalanche between Western and Main Victory
An avalanche from the Bezengi wall that descended between the peaks of Dzhangi-Tau and Katyn. View from the Dzhangi-Kosh hut. Photo-Alexey Dremin
Bezengi, Dykh-Tau, 2009 (in 4x “zoom”) Photo: Tatyana Senchenko
Avalanche from Western Shkhara, Bezengi. Photo-Vladimir Chistikov
An avalanche from the Belukha massif flying onto the Mensu glacier. January 2003. Photo-Pavel Filatov
Avalanche from the Northern wall of the Mizhirgi - Dykh-Tau massif. Photo-Vladimir Kopylov
Avalanche from the northern slopes of Pobeda Peak. Photo-Vladimir Kopylov
An avalanche covering the right edge of the l. Small Tanymas. Photo-Georgy Salnikov
Avalanches from Pobeda Peak
Avalanches from the Northern wall of Dykh-Tau. Photo-Mikhail Golubev
Elbrus region. Winter avalanche from the Northern wall of Donguz-Orun. Photo: Innocent Maskilayson
Antarctica
Krasnaya Polyana. Caucasus
An avalanche from one of the five-thousanders in the Caucasus, Dzhangitau. Bezengi wall. Photo: Mikhail Baevsky
Avalanche on the railway in 1935 Canada
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