staff uses them as the basis for polygamy forecasts concerning avalanches. what triggers a sudden movement of snow in the mountains resulting in a formidable natural disaster. finding the answer to that question is the job of scientists to some petersburg's hydra me to relaunch a cool university one of the factors triggering an avalanche is nothing more unusual than snow evaporation little flakes turn into vapor even at very low temperatures. but with fiber in the top layer of the snow but he escapes into the air. but in lowell as it settles on large snowflakes turns into us. as a result snow in the lowest layer turns into large round crystals. this makes the top most last slide over the ground pellets.

the only way to fight is to get them to move before they begin sliding down. whenever a weather forecast points to snow instability. to prevent the risk of. ski boots are closed and the area was cordoned off a modern computer system controls movement gas is fed into a bell suspended from a helicopter and operated and triggers a spark in the belt on the gas explodes the shockwave. this method is widely used in the foothills of the caucasus close to the city of sochi russia's most popular ski resort is situated here.

in the world are prone to avalanches and all of them are affected by our lunch every single one. slope as. if it is steeper than fifteen to twenty degrees. the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics is to take place here in new ski lifts are being built and trails are being prepared the downhill routes varying complexity some are just right the. others pose a challenge to professional sportsman. the caucasus mountains occupy an area about the same size of an average european country. provided with all the necessary facilities take up a small part of the slopes so far it is only possible to reach most of the mountain tops by helicopter going downhill where nobody. his set foot is the ambition of many skiers and snowboarders there is

a special term for this costly form of entertainment kelly skiing. to get their wish her well being is what every free rider aspies see it just takes your breath away to ride down the slope after a helicopter. flies you to some out of the way knock in the mountains. once we've left the helicopter we have to test the snow. so what this means is well we make it picks to see the pattern of snow fall in the last few weeks.

if we see that there's a danger of an avalanche happening that day then we just pack up straightaway and go home when the situation is just right though we follow this route down the mountain. or the wilds of the route the better the snow sure you have so many different routes lying ahead of you so you can choose whichever way you want to go down the mountain pending on the level of skiing your experience in english just how good you are. studying and forecasting avalanches is a complicated process with many phases any forecast supplied by the weather station can never be certain accurate conclusions are made only after testing the snow cover at a particular point. one layer of the snow is compact the other is loose you can see it is fluffy. but you see if i touch this with my finger it is almost

uniform i'm going to see how thick it is and there's twenty five centimeters of snow drift. snow drift is the lead that moves with the wind from one location to another this type of snow has the weakest bond with the lower layers. when somebody comes to the slope they see such snow but they don't know what it is like underneath it maybe packed a mack case it is not dangerous but what if it is unstable down there you just step on the snow and it slides away from you. if the snow's temperature structure and density are all measured by the specialists to see how the layers bond together they handle the readings right on the spot. the test demonstrates that the top layer of the snow drift on the slope is unstable so it may start sliding when skiis or snowboarders ride over it which could then trigger an avalanche so now we're going to designate the area as hazardous and

closed to the public. attention of those of you who are keen to scull mountain peaks please be careful according to the avalanche safety center a heightened alert has been declared for the next two days because of an avalanche hazard. or is a ski resort within the arctic circle originally it was meant as a place where the people of the town of killed lost could spend their vacations today tourists from across the country come to visit. we were going there for ten days but trouble struck on the second. memories of what happened then are so vivid in young's mind that it seems as though it were just yesterday but in fact several years have passed since the accident in many ways that incident changed his life. but if you look at the slope from below you will see a clearing between the trees it is there because frequent avalanches sweep away

trees standing in their path i did not know at the time that the slope was avalanche prone. none of the people who came to that slope could even imagine the outcome. free riders make a special point of looking for wild slopes to ride over virgin snow. for the past ten years yevgeny clipper cough has taken groups of free riders from the city of it to the mom i pass on the southern shore of lake baikal. the lake lanier could screech in is the world's largest body of fresh water locals call it a c. it is fifteen hundred meters deep in places. but will cover part of the distance

over the ice of lake baikal then it will be several kilometers of a winding path in the mountains another ten kilometers along a stream gorge. you could say the place is in the wilderness there isn't any electricity or a decent road there it can only be reached either by snowmobile or on foot. on the way to its destination the group registers with the local rescue service. an official of the service and rescue party takes note of its roots the number of people involved and approximate date of the group's return if the group fails to turn up on time rescue teams will undergo a search and rescue operation like all other groups of this kind this one is briefed before it continues its journey. i wish to formally warn you of possible

avalanches in the mountains you should be on alert especially after lunch time when warmer weather normally causes snow falls also a storm alert has been declared for tomorrow northwesterly winds of up to twenty meters a second. a member of the rescue services joins the club because the group they go as far as the foothills where the road ends they then cover ten kilometers across low hills with an all terrain vehicle. but before taking a ride from the slope the group needs to hike up hill on force as no motor vehicles can get up such an implied. we're heading toward slopes hidden from the sun because that's where pax knows

likely to be able to formulate. you may begin moving any time now that's why i will go skiing on the shady side close to the forests of the snow still holds on to push . despite the long hole the group of free riders managed to scale the mountain and go downhill on the first day before some so.

so. please. he thanked. the looming it's six it least six an. executed exit six.

within the arctic circle is russia's most point a group of sportsmen skiing in the mountains has been hit by an avalanche rescue was of the killer regional rescue services receive request for assistance they do not know how long it will take them to reach the scene a lot depends on the terrain and weather conditions they have vivid memories of what happened to a group of skiers from st petersburg a few years ago. is one of those who know all too well the full force of an avalanche feels like. do as i approach the edge to get ready for the descent. you know i was knocked over with such force from my gloves and hat in the shuttle and everything became unfastened. i sensed i was tumbling down at top speed with an

enormous mass of something pressing on me it was like being under a stamping press count say how long all that lasted through i was told the avalanche was on the move for only four or five seconds but to me it seemed like an eternity was enormous blocks of snow and ice reduce everything in their path to smithereens they sweep away trees and destroyed buildings at one point i felt as if i was literally bending over backwards with the stress on my spine was so great i thought my back would be broken. then my head was out of the snow. i think my lungs had filled up with snow and i strained to cough it up and i remember feeling afterwards that my chest had become lighter. yann was dug up by a companion who had not been caught up in the avalanche rescuers found three more men buried under the snow they were dead quite often it takes several days to find

victims buried in an avalanche for me to long proops they used to dig into the snow this is the only method to find a free rider unless he has a radio beacon on it. when the probe hits something soft it's clear that it's a victim the sound produced by the probe in that case is also helpful so we begin digging right there and then felix eva sure is a doctor with the local rescue team he always joins the team on duty when they go to help avalanche victims his eight kilogram kit contains all the necessary equipment for on site reanimation though in practice he rarely needs it. according to statistics if victims are stuck in an avalanche be fifteen minutes their chances of survival of fifty percent any longer and there is a sharp drop in the chances of survival. we haven't recovered a buried survivor from an avalanche around here in the past ten years.

intense preparations for the winter olympics have cut the number of urgency in the vicinity of. the freeriding the results rescuers will be hard put to recall the last time they dealt with incidents. and ten ice to counter the snow on the mountain slopes they are the visible part of what is otherwise covered with snow these are weather stations days or is continuously supplied to an online computer of the resorts avalanche control. the station measures snow depth temperature humidity wind characteristics solar radiation and atmospheric pressure. and more allowance to forecast avalanches put you in. these odd looking pipes on mountaintops part of the results of a safety system. failing to so-called shelters booths containing gas cylinders with

oxygen propane. no ok everything's in order here for shelter oxygen and propane is fed to an empty avalanche come through special pipes and operators sets off the gas mixture by pressing a button. in the old days all resorts use guns or mortars to fight avalanches they would be brought to a slope and fired at a designated target nowadays they're gradually falling into disuse. we have resolved the problem by taking on purely ecological systems used elsewhere in the world. cup they don't damage the ground either in summer or in winter. they simply remove the snow whenever we want to get rid of it or get. a computer at

the avalanche control service receive signals from automatic weather stations twenty four hours a day irrespective of weather conditions the figures are then analyzed. if necessary the operator uses the same computer to set a small avalanche in motion which cannot do any harm. which as we say any slip compose an avalanche has. avalanches make even in the most unlikely places that. police skiing enthusiastic take every possible precaution but they can never be fully guaranteed against being caught in an avalanche. and the thing that means that when you get on the fresh snow it's already under stress but you make things worse by adding your weight to it on top of venice or you cutting the snow in your skis and all my combined might set off an avalanche. normally the guard will do the job himself of testing the snow and if he senses the

possibility of an avalanche he might deliberately force the snow to get in the thing. if the it's a boy if you cut into the snow in front of me that doesn't mean it won't snap behind is true it will first break up front little crack behind you to you no matter whether you've done the cutting or somebody else has done it for you if you know what the. scientists in st petersburg have researched the peculiarities of the mountains ice and snow there is also surprising as it turns out an ice rupture generates a radio wave the can be located. i mean the most interesting thing about it is that radio frequency emissions take place shortly before i sharing. this means it's possible to full cost as well as record i sharing. this can be done if only for a short time before just an hour or so you. experiments for the snow by the scientists

have also demonstrated that during it's an avalanche to them it's radio waves. so here's the study radio missions are generated by small snow crystals rubbing against one another is a resemblance pointing to the existence of radio frequency radiation even in the visible range these people have seen light coming from not a ton avalanches were delivered. for the time being it is possible to focused avalanches only a few seconds ahead special radio receivers they used for the purpose. mounted on my on the southern side of lake baikal is known for its fluffy snow it is light soft and powdery freeriding fans need to demonstrate highly professional skills in such conditions otherwise one uncertain move may land you waist deep in the snow along the untamed slopes of fraught with the numerous risks for the novice

. but there you can see a large area covered with snow there were lots of trees there five years ago a big avalanche in december swept away everything in its way. places a constant reminder of the threat posed by avalanches. free riders from neighboring towns have built cabins in the foothills of mount my they spend weekends here there is nothing inside apart from stoves tables and

makeshift beds the cabins are almost buried in snow which makes them look like big snow drifts with smoking chimneys before they get to the mountain top free riders spend a good deal of time scrambling along with skis on the backs. yes you may know like it here if you enjoy sliding down hill you're unlikely to enjoy going uphill on foot completely nor are you likely to be very keen to stoke the coals in the stove even during the night here you can leave without wearing snowshoes to cope with it you really need to love it this landscape this forest this weather and this permanent snowfall.

more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world

has been seeing from the streets of canada. sheinkopf racial.

well. the latest in science and technology from around russia. we've got the future covered. for.

week's top stories on our t.v. greece is engulfed in volatile protests as the prime minister reshuffles the cabinet in a bid to push through a fresh austerity package to secure. russia's efforts to broker peace in libya sort of the first signs of dialogue between the warring sides as ongoing nato airstrikes that deaths and fuel shortages in the oil rich country. and the state's role in russia's economy must be reduced presently speaks out international economic forum in st petersburg committing himself to modernization and fighting corruption.

there you're watching our weekly news review welcome to the program the man who has taken the poison chalice says greece's new finance minister has admitted he faces a real war his biggest challenge is convincing angry greeks to face more austerity cuts to secure a new bailout from europe meanwhile the cabinet reshuffle was among the desperate measures used to appease those offering fierce resistance on the streets of the capital. center furthur was caught up in the middle of the bond protests. but the clashes between the police and the protesters still going to save some of the castle the state's need to head the. building fired into the crowd you can see to such things out along the side flare it was building a time. people him wanting that he was going to go to the name of the place trying to find out that violence still breaking out no if i see be not still by a lot of the people on the streets he say nice people just implied with the gas

masks on they really don't want anyone still that it's been said that the people who took the high heat for breaking the police people still missing back on the central state even though you can't make us think such as by the place they turned out to take time to get to a place to start to die says the ragged about the economic situation the scene happening in that country and they want it and. they can see right now then the police need to fight for city that's going to be another round of take us out somebody can see that happen they and the people that really gets up into the clouds. for the money lead. the way to let it go to set up a break up i thought it was right now. i want no not going to be able to head because the place about telling people to take us we can really see the tensions between.