20 Summer Tips To Stay Alive: Tip 18 – Don’t Slip–Slide Away

Here we present 20 easy-to-miss risks, and how to avoid or survive them. Stay alive this summer by following these simple tips. One tip will be given each day for the next 20 days.

Accidents are the leading cause of death among U.S. men 18 to 50 years old, accounting for 37,000 of the roughly 148,000 annual fatalities. Some instances of unintentional death, to use the official term, are unavoidable—wrong place, wrong time—but most aren’t. Staying alive requires recognizing danger, feeling fear, and reacting. “We interpret external cues through our subconscious fear centers very quickly,” says Harvard University’s David Ropeik, author of How Risky Is It, Really? Trouble is, even smart, sober, experienced men can fail to register signals of an imminent threat.

TIP 18 – DON’T SLIP-SLIDE AWAY

Hikers on a glacier or in areas where patches of snow remain above the tree line may be tempted to speed downhill by sliding, or glissading. Bad idea: A gentle glide can easily lead to an unstoppable plummet. In 2005 climber Patrick Wang, 27, died on California’s Mount Whitney while glissading off the summit; he slid 300 feet before falling off a 1000-foot cliff. 

FACT: One or two people die each year while glissading. 

DON’T: Glissade, period. But if you ever do it, you should be an expert mountaineer with well-practiced self-arrest techniques. Glissaders should always remove their crampons and know their line of descent.