How British people panic

[GrahamB]

This is about as bad as it gets - a rather slow "Oh dear God..." as the avalanche engulfs you.


https://twitter.com/TansuYegen/status/1 ... 4376683521

[Giles]

This reminds me a little of film footage from the 2004 tsunami: on some beaches people (of various nationalities) remained standing on after the water receded, and then as the first of the surges appeared on the horizon and drew closer and closer. In some cases, they waited until it was too late. Without previous direct experience, or the necessary training and/or understanding of physical forces, there seems to be a kind of failure of the imagination in cases like this. 'Something that is very far away can't really harm me' - even if it's moving towards me with such huge mass and significant speed that gravity and inertia will ensure it keeps coming. Moreover, the further away something is from the observer, the slower it seems to be: we can experience this ourselves with initially distant planes and cars as they move towards us. I guess that if a similar avalanche or rockfall or fire had broken out very close to the English guy, he would have 'panicked' much more and immediately jumped or run.
-- Very lucky for him there was a rocky outcrop so close by that he could take cover behind.

[Steve James]

They didn't know they should fear what they saw. That's why they kept filming. From what looks like the speed at which the avalanche was coming, they might not have outrun it anyway. That they stood there filming seems more like fixation than anything else. Why doesn't the deer move out of the way of your headlights? Wisdom comes from experience; experience often comes from bad judgment. Betcha next time they see an avalanche in the distance, they'll start running first -and those without experience will keep on filming.

[GrahamB]

I think the whole thing takes 50 seconds to reach him.

The point at which he realises it's going to hit him it's about 11 seconds.

Even if he started running at 50 seconds I don't think he'd have got out of the way. No chance with 11 seconds.

He lived to tell the tale though, so was lucky there was shelter.

[Dmitri]

That's some incredible footage.
The scale of it makes it appear like it's in slow motion...

What Steve said -- your (lack of) experience will determine your reaction. And your personality. Probably not your nationality though.

[Steve James]

Had to look it up

A large, fully developed avalanche can weigh as much as a million tons. It can travel faster than 320 kilometers per hour (200 miles per hour).

https://education.nationalgeographic.or ... /avalanche

So, let's say it was only a medium sized avalanche moving at only 100 mph . I guess there are times when it's best to just take cover and/or kiss ya bye bye.