Back to table of contents 2.2.5 Strategies
for coping with avalanches
One of the strategies described was to
alter travel routes to avoid areas with high avalanche risk during dangerous
snow and temperature conditions. Reindeer herders also described their practice
of causing avalanches � identifying dangerous snow accumulations and creating a
noise to loosen the snow and precipitate an avalanche.
A Chukchi reindeer herder from Esso said, �The
only possible way to avoid an avalanche is to cause it: throw a stone or shoot
if you have a gun�.
An Even reindeer herder from Esso
(Kamchatka) had a similar answer: �If you are in the mountains and have to
pass a narrow place, first shoot the gun, if you have any, to make an avalanche
go down�.
A male Even reindeer herder from the Ichinsky
farm (Kamchatka) advised: �Don�t go to places where there is the risk of
avalanches. Before approaching it, you can cause it artificially. Shots make a
lot of noise. It�s necessary to make one go down, others will follow.�
A female Even reindeer herder from Panala
(Kamchatka) explained, �Once we moved and we all were women, and we put our
fur tent in a warm good place, but when my father came and saw it he asked us
to move the tent and told us, �Look, there is huge snow pile on the top of the
hill, at any moment it can slide down on us and we all will die. On other place
it is may be colder, more windy but more safe.� When travelling, reindeer
herders check the route to find out what can threaten reindeer and people--are
there any snow banks in the mountains that can slide down? They move very
carefully, first of all they move reindeer, and people move after the reindeer.
It was forbidden to talk loudly and for children to cry, for safety�s sake�.
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