Avalanche risk warnings: What should I take from it?

Hi. I'm hoping that the collective wisdom that is the J2Ski forums will steer me straight.

What should I make of the Avalanche risk warnings for certain resorts? Last time I checked Chamonix was at level 4. Now I'm guessing that means a high risk and is aimed squarely at people venturing off Piste? Not that I was going to Chamonix but we are going to Zermatt in early March. So I had a look at the forecast and the Avalanche risk was level 3. Again I'm guessing that will apply more to the crowd that will be doing purely off piste? Or am I completely wrong?

The reason why I'm asking is I had a big stack in January and will be mainly going to get my confidence back and I don't really know about avalanche risks and what they mean and how they affect resorts.

Cheers for any info :)

T1b

https://www.j2ski.com/ski_tips/Avalanche_Safety/Avalanche_Risk_Scale.html

whoops! All here! :)

Tiberious

I think if you have to ask the question, you need to stay on piste unless with a guide :oops:.

BTW, I seem to recall reading that most avalanche deaths occur when the rating is 3 :!:. I think this was explained on the basis that people were "more adventurous" when it was at 3, while they would be much more cautious when it was up at 4 or 5 :roll:.

As a general rule, you should be safe on an open piste :mrgreen:

Yes, it's for off-piste, if you are a piste skier then as long as the piste is open it should be good. Avalanche risk changes daily and throughout the day. At 5 no-one is skiing off-piste, this is when they start evacuating chalets and luckily it doesn't happen very often. I think most deaths occur at 3 because this is usually the most common rating, in an average season majority of good off-piste days are level 3 days.