Avalanche risk warnings: pictograms to replace flags

Every season, mountain professionals are keen to inform skiers and snowboarders about avalanche risks. The challenge is to provide accurate, reliable, and understandable information in the right place and at the right time, in order to warn off-piste enthusiasts in the event of snowpack instability.

This is now easier thanks to new pictograms formalized at the end of 2016 under the auspices of AFNOR. Each symbol represents one of the five levels of avalanche risk (very high, high, marked, limited, low) established at European level, compared with only three flags currently in use. This European harmonization was necessary due to the large number of foreign visitors to resorts, especially in areas straddling several countries.

The pictograms are color-coded and accompanied by clear messages about the importance and extent of the risks. They have been translated into English, German, Italian, Catalan, and Dutch, and can be used on the resorts' smartphone apps, social media, and information screens at the foot of the ski lifts.

The end of avalanche flags

"The three current avalanche flags—yellow, yellow and black checkered, and black—can be used for another three years before being replaced by five pictograms integrated into more modern media," explains Serge Riveill, project manager at Domaines Skiables de France. "Traditional signage will still be possible, but resorts affected by avalanche issues will seize the opportunity offered by digital technology to better disseminate this important information to off-piste skiers," he adds. The project's creators want to raise awareness among skiers: "Risk level 3, which everyone recognizes as the yellow and black checkered flag, has become too commonplace," explains Serge Riveill. "Over the last ten years, nearly half of all off-piste accidents have occurred during a risk level 3 episode. The new pictogram, with its two exclamation marks, will attract more attention," hopes the AFNOR commission member.

Initiated by Domaines Skiables de France and ANMSM (National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts), the project was carried out in less than three months by a working group led by AFNOR , an organization specializing in voluntary standards, composed of representatives of resort mayors, Météo France, government officials, and mountain professionals.

This information system has already been tested in stations. [1] and on social media among a sample of approximately 1,500 people from February 15 to April 15, 2016. 75% of respondents found the system easier to read than the signage used previously.

[1] The eight pilot stations for the project were: La Plagne, Les Ménuires, Les Grands Montets (Chamonix), Le Brévent (Chamonix), Châtel, Le Corbier (Les Sybelles), Saint-Jean d’Arves (Les Sybelles), and Montgenèvre.