ЛАВИННАЯ ОПАСНОСТЬ И РИСК В ХИБИНАХ В УСЛОВИЯХ РАЗВИТИЯ РЕКРЕАЦИИ В НАЧАЛЕ XXI ВЕКА

At the moment, the Khibiny mountains are one of the most dynamically developing regions in the Arctic. Over the past decade, the number of tourists visiting the area of Kirovsk has increased
10 times. Such types of winter tourism as skiing and cross-country skiing are developed here. Khibiny mountains is one of the centers for the development of extreme sports in Russia. Avalanches come down here every year, which lead to human casualties. Catastrophic avalanche events have been occurring in the Khibiny mountains almost every year since the early 2000s due to an increase in the tourists and the development of new tourist destinations. Over the past two decades, the proportion of victims of avalanches among free ride has increased, and after 2015 a new category of avalanche victims has appeared – snowmobile drivers. Since 2000, about
60 people have been involved in avalanches in Khibiny mountains and over 80% of them were tourists.

An assessment of the social avalanche risk was carried out in Khibiny mountains in 2008 and 2019 using a methodology based on a combination of avalanche activity parameters and socio-economic parameters that characterize human vulnerability to avalanches in space and time. Estimated avalanche risk indicators in the Khibiny have increased 7 times over the past decade – from 23 to 159. High avalanche risk values are typical for areas where skiing is developed. Avalanche areas where off-piste skiing takes place are also characterized by increased risk values.