Less snow, or more risk? What you need to know about avalanches and climate change

Rising temperatures are forcing some ski resorts to close, while leaving others at greater risk of extreme weather

Avalanches kill about 100 people in Europe each year, with vast masses of ice, snow and rock regularly crashing down on hikers and skiers who have been caught unawares.

The structure of the snow, angle of the slope and variation of the weather can dictate whether a gentle disturbance – like a gust of wind or the glide of a snowboard – can trigger a deadly shift in the mountain.

Experts say the risks of an avalanche should be thought of like a flood: you have to consider both the chance of the hazard and the damage it will do.

“Avalanche risk in the European Alps is nowadays mostly for mountain practitioners who trigger avalanches themselves,” said Nicolas Eckert, a climatologist specialising in mountain risk at Université Grenoble Alpes. “However, such accidental avalanches are only a small portion of the total number of avalanches.”