Seen it before, but always worth watching.

All the more scary when you realize that was a very shallow avvy. You could still see light. If he had been deeply buried, it would have been total darkness, and he would have been that much harder to find and that much harder to dig out.

Note also that there were no apparent debris in the snow. Trees and such often get sucked into avvies. Guess what happens when you and a tree collide mid-avalanche.

I suppose the first order of business is to learn how to read snow and to tell if an avvy is threatening as well as to pay attention to any avalanche center forecasts.

If you're traversing an avvy chute, one person goes at a time while the other members watch. If an avvy occurs, keep your eye on the person. Where you see them last is where you generally should start searching.

This group was well prepared and had shovels along. Telescoping probes are a good idea too. A person buried won't always be this close to the surface.

HJ