Avalanche!!

The snow just keeps on coming here in Kandersteg!

Whilst this brings great conditions for Winter Sports it also brings dangers with the potential for avalanches.

Avalanches are a spectacular example of the forces of nature in action and are perhaps the most significant natural hazard in the snow covered mountains surrounding Kandersteg.

There are two kinds of avalanche, loose snow avalanches which start from a single point and slab avlanches which occur when a whole layer of snow breaks away.

Loose snow avalanches are often harmless and do not reach high speeds, however slab avalanches can devistate large areas and can reach speeds of up to 200-300km an hours if the conditions allow.

Slab avalanches can occur by natural means.  If after heavy snowfall the snow layers do not bond together sufficently, weak sections and fractures can form across the snow pack which can grow and grow until the whole layer falls away leading to an avalanche.  These fragile layers can also be transformed into slides by snowsports partcipants.  If they are unfortunate enough to be in the avalanches path this is often enough to bury the person.  In order to ensure safe skiing and snowboarding in resorts teams of engineers are on call to trigger avalanches artificially with the use of explosives.

The timing and location of avalanches are notriously hard to predict, however it is possible to estimate the likelyhood of an avalanche occuring.  Here at KISC we print the local avalanch bulletin daily to ensure all of our guests are equipped with the most up to date information on the conditions in the local area.

For more information on avalanches check out http://www.slf.ch/lawineninfo/index_EN

Weird Weather

This Autumn Kandersteg has enjoyed (or endured!) particularly warm weather.  With very little rain (with the exception of the flooding in early October) clear bright sunny days, and still very little snow it may be interesting to consider what is really going on with the weather?

Figures published on Tuesday by the Met Office suggest that despite the unusually warm weather 2011 stands at only 11th place on the list of warmest years ever since records began in 1850.

It seems that Switzerland is not alone in having higher than usual temperatures.  Weather in the UK, Russia and American to name just a few have recieved temperature readings a few degrees higher than normal.

So why not the hottest? Experts have pointed to a weather system called La Nina in the pacific that brings cooler water to the surface has pushed down the Global average.

But what is really worrying about this is despite a cooler year, the data relesed today confirms an overall warming trend with 9 of the warmest years on record occuring since the year 2000, and each sucessive decde since 1950 has been warmer than the last.

I think I'd rather ski than surf in the Winter.