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Abstract:
Introduction
Ski
mountaineering is becoming increasingly popular. There are dangers in ski
touring, especially on multi-day tours, in addition to avalanches. This leads
directly to the objective of the study, to analyze the cases of stranding during
ski mountaineering from 2009-2018.
Material and Methods
Based on the
central registry of mountain emergencies of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) all
stranding events in the ten-year period were analyzed. The term “stranding”
refers to all emergencies in which mountaineers are no longer able to continue
their tour on their own due to exhaustion, excessive demands, loss of material
or other mishaps. The stranding emergencies were quantified with NACA-Score (National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). Effects of age, sex and altitude using
multiple linear regressions were analyzed. The case reports of all stranding
emergencies were in addition analyzed in detail concerning causes.
Results
A total of 408
(311 male and 97 female) cases of stranding events in the period from 2009-2018
were analyzed. The mean NACA-Score for women was 0.6 ± 1.6 and for men 0.3 ± 1.
The average altitude of the stranding analyzed was 2633 ± 698 meters. A highly
significant positive relationship between NACA-Score and age as well as NACA-Score
and altitude was identified. Based on further analysis of case reports,
exhaustion was the main reason for a stranding event.
Discussion
Ski touring
groups rather than usually alarm rescue organizations before getting into
serious trouble. However, they may just have insufficient reserves of energy to
complete the tours. We recommend careful tour planning matching the physical
abilities of the participants keeping the likely difficulties in mind.
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