Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You let nature take its course.
Half of being an avalanche technician is knowing when to trust your instinct. This is one of those times when your instinct tells you the avalanche will happen after dark, when there are no skiers or hikers in the area.
You issue an avalanche advisory, broadcasting it several times through the course of the day. And you watch the slope carefully for any changes that might happen. If the conditions on the slope were to change, making the chance of an avalanche more likely, then you would conduct the controlled avalanche.
As luck would have it, though, you're right. The avalanche doesn't happen until well into the night hours, after everyone has gone home. You know, however, that if the avalanche had happened during the daytime, there could have been an accident.
"Difficult sums up the avalanche hazard advisory business," says avalanche technician Dough Abromeit. "There are so many areas of gray. During the winter, it is basically shades of gray, so we always try to err on the side of caution. This is probably the most difficult part of being in charge of issuing advisories."