ASC ASC Route Planning & Travel Protocols 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When is it MOST appropriate to use a ridgeline travel route even when it requires significantly more elevation gain?
- When the group includes clients with low fitness levels
- When valley and mid-slope routes expose the group to sustained avalanche terrain (Correct answer)
- When visibility is reduced below 100 meters
- When the group's beacon batteries are below 50% charge
Correct answer: When valley and mid-slope routes expose the group to sustained avalanche terrain
The additional effort of ridgeline travel is routinely justified when alternative routes place the group in prolonged exposure to avalanche start zones or runout corridors.
Question 2: During a guided trip, the ASC-recommended protocol when a group member triggers a small, non-injurious sluff is to:
- Continue travel unless the sluff exceeded 30cm depth
- Stop, reassess conditions, discuss the observation, and decide whether to continue or retreat (Correct answer)
- Report the event only in the post-trip debrief
- Allow the guide to conduct a rapid snowpit before resuming
Correct answer: Stop, reassess conditions, discuss the observation, and decide whether to continue or retreat
Any triggered snow movement is a real-time stability signal; ASC protocols require immediate collective reassessment rather than dismissing small events.
Question 3: The ASC protocol for 'travel in avalanche terrain at night' primarily requires professionals to:
- Avoid all travel during hours of darkness
- Restrict travel to confirmed safe corridors identified during daylight reconnaissance (Correct answer)
- Increase group spacing to 50 meters between members
- Carry additional rescue equipment including rope systems
Correct answer: Restrict travel to confirmed safe corridors identified during daylight reconnaissance
Night travel eliminates visual terrain assessment, making pre-identified safe corridors from daylight reconnaissance the essential substitute for real-time observation.
Question 4: Which factor most significantly increases the avalanche hazard on a previously safe slope during the afternoon hours?
- Decreasing barometric pressure
- Solar radiation warming the snowpack on sun-exposed aspects (Correct answer)
- Increased wind speed above the ridge
- Drop in air temperature below -15°C
Correct answer: Solar radiation warming the snowpack on sun-exposed aspects
Afternoon solar warming weakens the snow surface on south and west-facing slopes, increasing wet slab and loose wet avalanche potential during spring and clear-weather conditions.
Question 5: Under ASC travel protocols, a 'safe island' during route travel is defined as:
- A flat area confirmed free of crevasse hazard
- A protected location outside avalanche runout zones used as a staging point between exposed sections (Correct answer)
- An area with cellular service for emergency communication
- A zone with dense trees providing avalanche deflection
Correct answer: A protected location outside avalanche runout zones used as a staging point between exposed sections
Safe islands are pre-identified staging points where the group can assemble outside exposure zones between individual member crossings of hazard terrain.
Question 6: When evaluating a route that crosses multiple avalanche paths, the ASC standard requires that each path be treated as:
- A single aggregate hazard to save planning time
- An independent hazard requiring individual evaluation of aspect, angle, recent loading, and consequence (Correct answer)
- Lower priority if the regional forecast rates danger as Low or Moderate
- Secondary to the overall group fitness and schedule
Correct answer: An independent hazard requiring individual evaluation of aspect, angle, recent loading, and consequence
Each avalanche path has unique aspect, angle, loading history, and terrain trap characteristics that cannot be generalized from the regional forecast alone.
ASC ASC Route Planning & Travel Protocols 2
When is it MOST appropriate to use a ridgeline travel route even when it requires significantly more elevation gain?