Many avalanche accidents occur just after a storm, when blue-sky conditions return and people head to the backcountry to enjoy fresh powder. These kinds of accidents happen every year, despite warnings to those heading out into the snow. It is easy to dismiss some behaviour as reckless, and sometimes it is – but it is also human behaviour, and it is nothing new.

I have been there too; I have made mistakes and got lucky. When I was about 18, while freeriding with my brother, we suddenly changed direction towards a beautiful and untracked powder field. It felt magical, until we realised we were heading straight for a 100-metre cliff. We turned back just in time, and moments later, a huge avalanche released exactly where we had been, and went over the edge.

This winter in the Alps has been marked by a very high number of deadly avalanche accidents, prompting headlines about “unstoppable walls of snow” and a far-reaching search for answers. At the time of writing, the death toll for the season, counted from 1 October, is 146. This is not without precedent, but it is clearly above average – and more than twice the number recorded in some recent years.

This season has shown that even very experienced people, such as mountain guides, ski patrollers and professional riders, can get caught in perilous situations. So what has gone wrong?

The composition of the snowpack was particularly tricky. The season started early, with snowfall in November. Then came a long period of drought, with very little precipitation,........

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