Table 1:
Characteristics of avalanche accidents involving complete burial of people in Canada and Switzerland from Oct. 1, 1980, to Sept. 30, 2005
| Characteristic | Country; no. (%) of people* | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada n = 301 | Switzerland n = 946 | ||
| Period | < 0.001§ | ||
| Oct. 1, 1980, to Sept. 30, 1992 | 103 (34.2) | 490 (51.8) | |
| Oct. 1, 1992, to Sept. 30, 2005 | 198 (65.8) | 456 (48.2) | |
| Activity† | < 0.001§ | ||
| Backcountry skiing | 164 (54.5) | 507 (53.6) | |
| Nonmechanized | 98 (32.6) | 504 (53.3) | |
| Mechanized | 66 (21.9) | 3 (0.3) | |
| Off-piste skiing | 24 (8.0) | 286 (30.2) | |
| Snowmobiling | 65 (21.6) | 0 | |
| Alpinism | 16 (5.3) | 63 (6.7) | |
| Other | |||
| Recreational‡ | 20 (6.6) | 46 (4.9) | |
| Nonrecreational | 12 (4.0) | 44 (4.7) | |
| Depth of burial, cm, median (IQR) | n = 249 100 (50–180) | n = 879 80 (50–130) | < 0.001** |
| Duration of burial, min, median (IQR) | n = 301 18 (5–60) | n = 946 35 (12–120) | < 0.001** |
| Duration of burial, min | < 0.001§ | ||
| ≤ 10 | 124 (41.2) | 236 (24.9) | |
| 11–20 | 47 (15.6) | 142 (15.0) | |
| 21–35 | 29 (9.6) | 107 (11.3) | |
| 36–60 | 28 (9.3) | 117 (12.4) | |
| > 60 | 73 (24.3) | 344 (36.4) | |
| Cause of death | n = 143 | NA | – |
| Asphyxia | 116 (81.1) | ||
| Hypothermia | 0 | ||
| Trauma | 27 (18.9) | ||
Note: IQR = interquartile range, NA = not available.
*
Unless stated otherwise.
†
See Box 2 for definitions of the outdoor activities.
‡
Includes hiking, snowshoeing and tobogganing.
§
Pearson χ2 test.
**
Mann–Whitney test.