In part-three of Powder Magazine's five-part multimedia series, The Human Factor introduces the concept of the one-armed bandit.

Preview:

It was just another day in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Nearly two feet of fresh snow was in play, avalanche danger was "high", but the route lead to relatively safe, low-angle terrain. Ten minutes later....

Watch: 

Engineer, avalanche educator, and researcher Ian McCammon explaining the role of heuristics in avalanche terrain.

Listen: 

Bruce Tremper, Director of the Utah Avalanche Center, discussing the psychology behind skiing in avalanche terrain. 

Again, why do we make the decisions we do?

Presenting, 

Chapter 3, One-Armed Bandit by David Page: http://opsw.co/1ycZfEj

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Need to play catch up?

Chapter 1: http://opsw.co/1pS0dpd

Chapter 2: http://opsw.co/1Hm85om

Sam Collentine | OpenSnow