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. 2022 May 16;19(10):6040.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19106040.

Behavior in Avalanche Terrain: An Exploratory Study of Illegal Snowmobiling in Norway

Bjørn Michaelsen  1 , Iain Stewart-Patterson  2 , Carsten G Rolland  1 , Audun Hetland  3 , Rune V Engeset  1   4
Affiliations

Behavior in Avalanche Terrain: An Exploratory Study of Illegal Snowmobiling in Norway

Bjørn Michaelsen et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Snowmobilers make a grim and significant contribution to avalanche fatality statistics in Norway. However, there is limited knowledge on the behavior of this group in avalanche terrain and the factors influencing this behavior. Our study documents what snowmobilers do and not do in avalanche terrain, how their behavior relates to managing complex avalanche conditions and if there is a mismatch between avalanche competence, education and riding preferences. This ethnographic study observed snowmobiler tracks and thus avalanche terrain usage in Northern Norway during 2018 and 2019, supported by open-ended conversations with target group riders. Results show that high-marking lost popularity to technical riding, which seems to be perceived as safer despite increased exposure to complex avalanche terrain and conditions with persistent weak layers in the snowpack. The detected mismatch between preferences and avalanche knowledge/attitude will remain an obstacle to future accident prevention efforts unless behavioral changes are addressed. This study of a predominantly illegal activity sheds light on how to explore and observe hard-to-reach illegal activities and should be of interest to a wider audience from other research disciplines.

Keywords: avalanche education; illegal; persistent weak layers; qualitative method; snowmobiling.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Typical terrain used for high-marking and hill climbing. Photo: Courtesy of participant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Technical riding tracks in the focus area between the trees. Note that there are no tracks in the classic hill climbing bowl in the background. Photo: B. Michaelsen.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Study area in Northern Norway.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Focus area 1b. Yellow polygons show areas that used to be popular for high-marking and hill climbing. Red polygon shows the area which is now used for technical riding. The polygons are overlaid on a map from www.senorge.no (accessed on 6 January 2022), showing terrain steeper than 30 degrees (yellow to red) and forest/vegetation (green).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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