Act: recommendations, measures, and communication channels
05.12.2025 Under certain conditions, avalanches can pose such a high level of risk to people and property that the implementation of measures becomes necessary. The type and extend of those measures depend on the specific circumstances of each situation. snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 Course of action If the assessment of the avalanche situation […]
Working methods of avalanche commissions
05.12.2025 Avalanche commissions produce local, evidence‑based risk assessments using a workflow that consists of the steps ‘perceive’, ‘assess’ and ‘act’, integrating daily monitoring with targeted field observations. snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 Fundamentals of commission work Avalanche commissions, regardless of the region in which they operate, are responsible for assessing the local avalanche situation. […]
Assess: reference scenarios, threshold values, operational limits, and uncertainties
05.12.2025 Commission members perform risk assessments by leveraging their technical expertise to identify typical avalanche problems and reference scenarios, applying a decision-making process that provides a clear justification for any measures adopted. snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 Risk assessment After consulting various sources—such as the avalanche bulletin—or conducting a field survey (perceive part), the […]
Perceive: using data and doing observations
05.12.2025 Effective avalanche risk management relies on situational awareness, involving data analysis (e.g. weather, maps, bulletins…) and field observation (e.g. local condition, terrain, snow profiles…) snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 Static and dynamic information To assess the avalanche situation as accurately as possible, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of your assessment […]
Acceptable and residual risk
05.12.2025 Moving from the illusion of total safety to pragmatic mitigation, managing acceptable and residual risk in avalanche zones. snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 Avalanche risk mitigation For many decades, the concept of “absolute safety” was used in the context of avalanche protection. The ambitious goal was to reduce or entirely eliminate risks and […]
Avalanche Commissions vs. Avalanche Warning
05.12.2025 Regional forecasting and local risk assessment complement each other: warning services analyse the general avalanche danger while commissions manage specific local risks. snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 Avalanche warning services Avalanche warning services are responsible for monitoring snow and avalanche conditions at the regional level across the Alpine area, and they do not […]
Understanding risk, hazard, danger, vulnerability and exposure
05.12.2025 Avalanche commissions operate within the civil protection framework, managing risk, defined by its components hazard, exposure and vulnerability, as opposed to avalanche danger, which describes the natural avalanche conditions themselves. snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 Civil protection and avalanche commissions The civil protection system is the coordinated set of structures and skills that […]
Avalanche commissions as part of the disaster resilience
05.12.2025 Avalanche commissions play a fundamental role in the resilience of communities living in mountain areas, helping to prevent risks, assess and monitor potentially critical situations. snow-arrow-down-black This article is about: 01 What is resilience? Resilience is the ability of an object, system, individual, or community to effectively cope, absorb, adapt, and recover from adverse […]