Image by Andrew Arseev
I Am Killing People With Avalanches
by, Grant Alexander | Courtesy of Sportgevity
I am killing people with Avalanches. Am I telling them to ski avalanche prone slopes during a storm? Am I failing to dig them out once they’re buried or telling them to choose terrain where the consequence is death? No. But I might as well be. I might as well be killing people with avalanches because I am part of a culture that is killing people with avalanches. I am part of a generation that worships the philosophy “Live Fast, Die Young”. And this culture is killing people every year. Is it only a matter of time before I’m next?
Our culture is a landscape of high risk activities. We turn on the TV and see men and women using wing suits to fly hundreds of miles an hour within inches of rock walls. We login to Facebook and see skiers hurtling themselves down 50 degree powder covered mountains at 60 miles an hour with the occasional backflip thrown in. Each piece of media on its own has little effect, but cumulatively it influences our thinking. It makes us believe that risky behavior is normal and that the only way to participate in our sport is to push the limits. We start to believe that the only way to fit in is to stuff our doubts in our pockets, swallow our fear and say “fuck it”. So next time we stand on top of a steep powdery slope, filled with doubt about whether we’re going to trigger an avalanche, our voice of reason is replaced with the voice of our culture. It tells us “If I die, at least I died doing something that I love”. But today is the day I fight back against that voice. Today is the day I finally say I”ve had enough.
I’m 29 years old and for the first time in my life I have realized that I don’t want to die a horrible early death. I don’t want my friends to suffocate on a mouthful of snow, or have every bone in their body broken as they rag doll down a cliff face. I don’t want to go the way of my childhood heroes Doug Coombs and Shane McConkey. I want to blaze my own path and change my destiny. I want to live slow and die old.
I started today by sending the following e-mail to 7 friends who are coming on a backcountry trip with me to Iceland in April. I encourage everyone in my generation to do the same. Have this conversation with your friends. Talk about the risks you are really taking. Help to build a culture that puts safety and longevity before anything else. Only then will we develop a backcountry culture where zero deaths per year is the norm.
Subject: Preparing for Iceland: Avalanches and Mindsets
Hey Everyone,
In a little more than 3 months we’ll all be on one of the most epic trips ever, backcountry skiing and split-boarding in Iceland! I’m super excited. We’ve been talking about this since 2012 and it’s finally going to be a reality.
I’m sending out this e-mail to start a conversation about avalanches and I’d like everyone to participate. The more I read about people who die in slides, the more it becomes apparent that it’s group think, group culture and group mentality more than anything else that’s causing these deaths. Individuals who would otherwise make very good decisions seem to make very poor ones once they’re placed in a large group. We’re a group of 9 including the guide, which is VERY big and can create some very dangerous dynamics if we’re not mindful from the outset.
So here’s what I’m proposing: We create a group culture with a primary focus that is NOT about getting rad and getting after it. We create a group culture that values the safety of every member above anything else. That means making decisions with the goal that we will NEVER set off an avalanche. Not one. Even if that means turning around and skiing back down the skin track. A group where we truly value everyone’s voice, no matter how much or how little experience they have. And a group where anyone can have veto power and feel comfortable using it. Creating a culture like this is difficult since most of us (myself included) are risk takers by nature. We’re also part of a generation and culture that worships risk takers and memorializes them when they die. We also don’t know each other and there will be a ton of group dynamics playing out once we arrive. Finally, there is a guide involved, which creates another difficult group dynamic in terms of staying safe since the guide is the expert and often deferred to for risky decisions. I asked E if the company would put us in touch with our guide to be a part of this conversation since that will be a major influencer once we are out there. E is that possible?
That being said I think this group culture can be built over the next few months with some communication via e-mail and a plan for arrival. So here’s what I’m proposing
1. We all answer a series of intro questions that I’ll pose in this e-mail and keep the convo going as we see fit.
2. We use this e-mail chain to share anything we learn or read about avalanches throughout the season.
3. When we arrive at the hut on Monday April __, we use the afternoon to discuss group dynamics and decision making, avalanche safety, learn about the snowpack from the guide, and practice beacon searches and group shoveling/rescue techniques.
So here are the questions I’d like to answer and then hear from all of you. If you have questions you want everyone to answer please add them here.
1. What do you think of this plan? Anything you would like to add or take away?
Please speak freely. If you feel it is overly cautious do not hesitate to say so.
2. What is your level of experience traveling in backcountry and avalanche terrain?
I am an absolute beginner when it comes to traveling in the backcountry. I have taken an AIARE 1 course and will take an AIARE 2 course next month. Total number of days in avalanche terrain is around 5. I was caught in a slide in South America 2 years ago and broke my leg. I’m lucky to be alive and understand first hand what being caught in a slide is like.
3. What are your concerns?
I am concerned with the size of the group. 9 is a lot of people to make a good decision. I’m concerned about the dynamics with a guide. I’m also concerned about GoPro fever 🙂 Will I get caught up in trying to get a sweet shot and will it cloud my judgement?
4. What’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do for fun? Work? etc.
Most of the trip is going to be f-ing fun as hell. So let’s get to know each other. I’m Grant Alexander. I went to grad school with B, R and E. Originally from New York but have traveled all over the world. Skiing is my life in the winter and sometimes in the summer. And oh yeah I teach high school math in Inner City Boston and have some ridiculous stories…
That’s all I’ve got for now. Looking forward to hearing from everyone!
All the best,
Grant Alexander
– Grant Alexander is a Math for America fellow and Mathematics teacher in inner city Boston. He teaches 180 days a year and skis 100 days a year. He studied Management Science at Stanford University with a focus on how organizational culture and group process effect organizational outcomes. After breaking his leg in an avalanche in Chile, he began developing methods for integrating group dynamics into the avalanche terrain decision making process. You can read his blog at www.soleofskiing.com
See more at: sportgevity.com
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