seventy and four hundred kilometers an hour ma'am can do nothing in the face of tons of snow rushing down to such a velocity. and yet people do live in the mountains they study avalanches to be able to protect themselves from the beaches skiers and snowboarders tempt fate by taking to the mountain slopes. in this weather station in the q.b. massive is situated close to the town of one hundred fifty kilometers north of the arctic circle it is one of the instruments of the avalanche safety service it records dozens of readings several times a day snow and ground temperatures wind direction solar activity and precipitation all those factors affect the snow and its structure the station staff uses them as the basis for political reform casts 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 year. but in lola's it settles on large snowflakes turns into us. as a result snow in the lower turns into large round crystals. this makes the top most last slide over the ground pellets.

the only way to fight it 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 an operator then triggers a spark in the belt on the gas explodes the shockwave triggers and. 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.

in the world are prone to avalanches and all of them are affected by our lunches 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 new ski lifts are being built trails are being prepared the downhill routes varying complexity some are just right for. others pose a challenge to professional sportsman. the caucasus mountains. 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 for a while the skiing is what every free rider aspires to it just takes your breath away to ride down the slope after a helicopter. flies he says 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 ridge the better the smooth shore 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 is 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 layer 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 and maybe packed in america case it is not interest but what if it is unstable down there you just step on the snow and it slides away from you if the snows 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 would 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 you have guinea cliff a cough has taken groups a free ride as in the city of to the my my past 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 to see 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 in the 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 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 slopes the group needs to hike uphill on force as no motor vehicles can get up such an incline. we're heading towards slopes hidden from the sun because that's where pax knows likely to be. 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 it would appreciate it if despite the long hole the group of free riders managed to scale the mountain and go downhill on the first day before some so.

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within the arctic circle is russia's northernmost point a group of sportsmen skiing in the mountains has been hit by an avalanche rescue as of the kid 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 distance 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. through 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 it 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 fairly 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 for 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 sochi the freeriding the results rescuers will be hard put to recall the last time they dealt with related incidents. and ten ice to counter the snow on the mountain slopes they have a visible part of what is otherwise covered with. these weather stations days or is continuously supplied to an online computer of the resort's control.

the station measures snow depth temperature humidity we know characteristics solar radiation and atmospheric pressure. and more allow us 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 propane is fed to an empty avalanche gone 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 a read of it back or get. a computer at the avalanche control service receive signal some 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 slate compose an avalanche has a. avalanches make even in the most unlikely places.

police skiing enthusiastic every possible precaution but they can never be fully guaranteed against being caught in an avalanche. and the thing is 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 that is you cutting the snow with your skis and only a combined myself 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 moving. 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'll first break up front but it'll crack behind to you no matter whether you've done the cutting or somebody else has done it for you if you know what it is that. scientists since in 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 sharing. this means it's possible to focused as well as record our shiri. this can be done if only for a short time before just an hour or so few. experiments with snow by the scientists have also demonstrated that during at slide an avalanche to them it's radio waves. here rodeo missions are generated by a small snow crystals rubbing against one another is a resemblance pointing to the existence of radio frequency radiation even in a visible range people have seen light coming from no. time avalanches are doing. for the time being it is possible to full cost of a launch is only a few seconds ahead special radio receivers they used for the purpose.

mountain on my on the southern side of lake baikal is known for its fluffy snow it is light soft and countering 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 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 to go

to a big avalanche in december swept away everything in its way. that place is a constant reminder of the threat posed by avalanches like this. free riders from neighboring towns have built cabins in the foothills of mt no money 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 ride to spend a good deal of time scrambling along with skis obote on their backs. yes but you may know like it here before you enjoy sliding down hill you're unlikely to enjoy going uphill on foot complete with gear 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 all this landscape this forest this weather and this permanent snowfall.

is he to you. elaine.

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with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to come as a report on. the u.s. says its war ships will stick to their missions near a crucial oil lane out of the persian gulf despite warnings from iran to stay away standoff continues to drive off oil prices and tension. republican presidential candidate race gets underway in earnest by voters remain in the sights of over just who to put forward to capitalize on disillusionment with barack obama. plus the rise of crime and gang culture among british youngsters from trouble families say it's their only way of escaping violence at home.

live from our headquarters in central moscow you're watching our team with me and he's now a six pm here in the russian capital our top story all prices have jumped in response to the latest heated exchange between iran and the u.s. over the persian gulf in the critical trade route in the strait of hormuz washington says it's airships will continue their missions in the region despite iran's warnings that they should stay away iran threatened to block oil shipments through the strait if new western sanctions hit its exports. threat came at the same time as a ten day long naval exercise which showcases new aircraft and medium range missiles the us whose ships are stationed in the area maintains that it won't tolerate any hindrance of passage times correspondent pepe escobar says new sanctions against iran will hurt the global economic recovery. can imagine israel was the other way around these sanctions were against american exports of oil or if this sanctions or against the.