ADHERENCE TO RISK PREVENTION AND SAFETY MEASURES IN BACKCOUNTRY WINTER RECREATIONISTS

Rapid extrication within 10-20 minutes of complete avalanche burial is essential for survival (Haegeli et al. 2011). Safety equipment, along with basic risk prevention measures, is known to decrease the mortality of avalanche burial (Brugger et al. 2007). An accurate estimation of the number of recreationists within a precise geographic region and timeframe is lacking due to feasibility issues of in- field surveys. The aim was to perform a comprehensive survey of backcountry skiers and snowshoers to characterize adherence behaviors in these activity groups. The survey was completed over a 1-week period in February 2011 in South Tyrol, Italy. In total 5576 individuals (77.7% skiers, 22.3% snowshoers) were surveyed. 75.6% of individuals reported having read the avalanche bulletin for the given day, although only 53.4% were able to indicate the correct avalanche danger rating. 80.6% of skiers and 13.7% of snowshoers (p<0.001) were in possession of standard rescue equipment (transceiver, probe and shovel). The percentage of individuals reporting both correct danger rating and standard equipment was lower (skiers 51.0%, snowshoers 8.3%; p<0.001). Other survival devices were less frequent (Airbag 3.6%; AvaLung 0.4%). These results highlight a surprisingly low adherence to basic safety measures in a region with a high level of avalanche awareness and a highly organized mountain rescue service. This indicates the need to assess the effectiveness of information-transfer and to tailor educational campaigns to specific recreation groups. A trans-national survey over a complete winter season is needed to allow a reliable calculation of morbidity and mortality in these sports.