Employees of the Kabardino-Balkaria Directorate of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations, North Caucasian paramilitary service for affecting weather and other geophysical processes and highland geophysical institute have flown around Baksansky Gorge.

Forecasting avalanches is one of the most important tasks of the Emergencies Ministry. Unpredictable weather, unique relief of the area, extremely heterogeneous of the mountain relief make it difficult to develop a universally efficient way to assess the stability of the snow cover. However, some of the methods have proven efficient and are used everywhere. One of such methods is air-visual examination of avalanche-prone areas.

Avalanche season in the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria is on from October to April. Avalanches are usually triggered by sharp changes in the weather (including fluctuations of atmospheric pressure, air humidity), rains, heavy snowfalls, as well as mechanical effect on the snow mass including impacts of rockslides and earthquakes. Sometimes, because of relative balance between the friction force and pressure force, the avalanche can be triggered by event a slightest push (sound of a gunshot or pressure of one person – a skier or snowboarder).

According to the leading engineer for avalanche service Igor Komarov: “This year we had less precipitation than last one, the stock of snow in Baksansky Gorge near tourist sites does not exceed the average amount, none the less, specialists of the North Caucasian paramilitary service for affecting weather and other geophysical processes have made effects on three avalanche-prone areas. More than 23 avalanches which contained about 800,000 cubic meters of snow were slid down. Now the avalanche situation in the gorge is stable. In case the weather changes, the paramilitary team is ready to force down avalanches. The data received from the air surveillance will be carefully processed by specialists”.