Recommendations to Deal with Snow Avalanches

Snow avalanches represent the major natural hazard in Europe's mountain areas during the winter. Harsh, changing conditions regarding mainly snowfall and snowpack in these areas, coupled with the increase in winter sport activities, tourism and therefore urbanisation and lifelines, are responsible for catastrophic avalanches causing significant human losses and structural damages. This publication mainly addresses recommendations to reduce risk from avalanches in Europe. It includes contributions from experts that participated in the workshop held at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, on 11 July 2002, organised by the NEDIES Project (Natural and Environmental Disaster Information Exchange System), as weIl as from other European experts on avalanche research and disaster management. These contributions focus on recommendations on domains such as avalanche prediction, prevention and mitigation, preparedness and response and dissemination of information to the public. Specifie experiences in Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland are discussed, and recommended measures and actions which are also applicable to other European countries are presented.