Posted on 08 March 2011 at 10:57h

Reading the article about the inflatable backpack made me think about the time I got avalanched. It happened on the mountain behind my house and it wasn't a big one but scary all the same. I was out alone and decided to board across a steep slope when suddenly a big crack appeared and the whole slope started moving downwards. After a couple of seconds it stopped and I dug myself out and ran away. During those seconds I noticed some interesting physical phenomena. When the snow starts to move it becomes fluid and you sink in it, hence the idea behind the "snow pulse", it also becomes impossible to turn. When boarding down a slope you turn by digging the edge of the board into the snow, to do this you have to be moving relative to the snow but once the snow also starts to fall down the slope you are travelling at the same velocity as the snow so can't get an edge to dig in. So here's my idea; all you have to do is restore your relative velocity which means you have to travel down the snow faster than the snow is moving. The force of gravity is not big enough to do this so you need some help. So leave the inflatable back pack at home and strap on a jet pack, the extra force that this provides will accelerate you down the slope enabling you to turn as before. I haven't thought about what will happen when you get to the bottom travelling at 200 kmhr^-1 but its better than being buried.