Jorts wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 11:25 am
FACETS is a great acronym to consider to be aware of and avoid heuristic traps that can get you in trouble.
Familiarity
refers to an individual’s use of past experiences to make decisions within present situations in familiar terrain.
Acceptance
represents the tendency of individuals to engage in activities they feel will be approved by their peers or those whom they hope to impress.
Consistency
is the propensity for someone to stick with prearranged decisions – those often focused on timelines, routes and descents (e.g., summit fever). Consistency can also refer to attachment to a self or group image.
Expert
The expert halo describes how individuals in a group may rely on the decisions of those perceived to have more experience, skill, knowledge or assertion (i.e., perceived experts).
Tracks
(or, social facilitation) is someone’s tendency to decrease or increase the amount of risk he or she is willing to undertake depending on the presence of other group members.
Scarcity
also known as “powder fever,” is ignoring potential risks or concerns in favor of experiencing finite resources, in this case “first tracks” on un-skied or freshly fallen snow.
Source of italicized text inserted into Jorts post.
Also from there....
"These six heuristic traps are commonly known by the acronym FACETS with the “t” representing “first tracks” in place of scarcity (McCammon, 2004b; Zajchowski, Brownlee, and Furman, In Press).
F: Familiarity. “I’ve skied this slope before and it hasn’t avalanched, thus it must be stable this time.”
A: Acceptance. “If I shred this sweet line right now then my buddies will be impressed.”
C: Consistency. “I made plans to ski the south face of Superior, told several folks my plans and don’t want to alter them.”
E: Expert Halo. “I am concerned about the slope stability, but since my ski partner has her Avalanche 2 certification and doesn’t seem concerned, then it must be OK.”
T: Tracks (scarcity). “The powder is so good today, I’m going to ski this slope because it’s awesome, even though I have concerns in the back of my head.”
S: Social facilitation. “I don’t want to appear like I’m afraid in front of my friends, so I’m going to stick with their decisions.” "
I think the heuristic traps/human factor/FACETS can be applied to all activities in the mountains, not just during avalanche season, but obviously this is a good discussion to be having at the start of winter and in light of recent accidents.