Erich Peitzsch, a doctoral student at Montana State University and researcher for the United States Geological Survey, sought to explore the question, “how old are the people that die in avalanches?” Erich’s research was inspired by a hunch that the average age of avalanche victims is increasing.
During his talk, Erich showed that this is, in fact, the case. The average age of avalanche victims has increased from 27.6 years old between 1950-1989 to 34.3 from 1990-2018. The average age of fatalities among avalanche professionals was shown to be even higher at 37.7 years.
