So I just came across a community being used to solicit fake Amazon reviews. But I don't see a way to report this to the admins. Since the user in question moderates the community they are posting spam to, it seems like the report button will just go to them?

https://lemmy.world/c/amazonreviewerclub

Edit: seems to be gone now, perhaps reporting one of the posts was enough. Not sure what that looks like on the admin interface.

I really enjoy videos about science, but they are getting harder to find on modern platforms. Is there a community out there dedicated to discussing and recommending good content regardless of platform?

There seems to be some really good content out there from various sources and platforms. For example, YouTube has PBS spacetime, Kurtzgesagt, Natural World Facts, and more all of which seem well researched. I even enjoy things that are more speculative as long as they explain clearly where the speculation begins like Alien Worlds on Netflix. I have also found good stuff on various other platforms.

Unfortunately, searching and doing the homework on the reliability of each channel and creator has become a bit of a chore. The channel Natural World Facts in particular is something I could have easily missed just because it's relatively small compared to the others and the name sounds similar to the kind of content I often avoid. I think we all know how bad things can get if you just let "The Algorithm®" choose for you.

I was curious how the synchronization behaved between instances so I posted a comment while lemmy.world was on 0.17 and temporarily disconnected from lemmy.ca. I noticed that even though lemmy.world and lemmy.ca are on 0.18.1 and 0.18 now, the comment still has not gotten to lemmy.ca. If a comment is posted while there is a network partition of some kind, do the comments eventually get through or are comments only synchronized between instances when they are posted?

I just wanted to make a post with a quick thank you to @Pat12 who moderates /c/skiing for helping out with moderating this community. @Rudd made a good point that each community should have enough moderators that spam won't sit around.

I think it is important to have more than one moderator for wilderness sport communities in particular. Many of us enjoy trips beyond cell phone range and the community deserves prompt attention to spam and other undesirable content.

My goal is to build a community where we can discuss back country skiing on our own terms. I chose lemmy.world because the overall server rules appear to be reasonable. I don't intend to make any additional rules unless something becomes a problem. I do hope that others will volunteer to help moderate this community as we grow.

I am always open to suggestions about how to run the community better so feel free to comment or send me messages.

I was resistant to carrying these in addition to all the other safety gear. However, the last couple years have shown me that they are very useful and can make a huge difference in an emergency.

Now the real question: should we use the "walkie talkie" naming convention for all our gear? I propose henceforth avalanche beacons be called "slidey findies".

Sometimes skins aren't enough to get up steeper sections. In this photo, I am climbing Snow Lion couloir. I have metal spikes on my ski boots called crampons that allow me to kick into the hardened spring snow. Also, there is a whippet ski pole in my right hand to stop myself if I slide down the mountain (not visible in the photo unfortunately). This is similar to an ice axe but combines with the ski pole for ease of use. For more information, you can read about the self-arrest mountaineering technique.

Snow stability: In Colorado and many other areas with contenental snow packs, this kind of slope presents a high risk of avalanche for most of the year. However, prediction of avalanche danger becomes more reliable in the spring when the snow melts and sticks together more (known as isothermalization). However, one must always be aware of other factors affecting the snow such as the temperature the night before, rain fall, time of day, and more.

As always, seek proper in-person training before attempting this kind of thing. This post is simply to satisfy curiosity and drive discussion.

The photo is of Mt. Neva from the top of Jasper peak. Great day with perfect snow.

If there is one thing that never changes about the outdoors it is that nature is trying to kill you. Back country snow sports put you right in the middle of a dynamic natural environment making safety training and constant decision making crucial to your safety.

This post is meant to raise awareness only, please find a qualified local organization to take in-person training. Never use internet strangers as your only source of information!

In this post, I will talk about a few topics that I have found to be important in my 15 years of back country skiing. This is not an exhaustive list and only briefly introduces each topic.

1. Avalanches

2. Rescuing people in the back country

3. Physical injury unique to back country

4. Communication with your group

5. Regional Specific Safety (crevasses, undermined snow etc)

6. Contingencies

Avalanches

An avalanche occurs when a layer of snow slides down a slope. These happen extremely quickly and can become terrifyingly large. A skier caught in one of these slides can be buried or injured severely. Most of your avalanche training will center around identifying how and where avalanches will form and how to safely avoid them while planning your route. Some of the training also covers what happens if an avalanche occurs. However, its important to point out: once someone is buried in an avalanche, their chances of survival go down significantly.

Here is a video capturing an avalanche and parts of a rescue. This group made some mistakes that got them into the avalanche in the first place, but their rescue effort after the fact is quite nice in my opinion. The end of the video leads into my next point nicely.

Rescuing people in the back country

Getting an injured person out of the back country can be extremely difficult. The video linked earlier has an extremely fast rescue at the end. In my experience, it takes search and rescue closer to 12 to 24 hours to get to an injured person (when they know the location). The search and rescue team in my area is fantastic, its just an extremely hard job.

You need to have the equipment, skills, and competent ski partners to survive for the time it takes to get rescued if you get injured. Contrary to the movies, helicopters are often a last resort for rescue operations due to the danger of landing in the mountains on uneven terrain. You are more likely to be carried out on a sled.

Physical injury unique to back country

You will hear a lot about avalanches but they aren't the only danger in the back country. In no particular order, here are other things to watch out for safety wise:

1. Make sure you have well-adjusted boots and bindings. It is not uncommon for serious leg injuries to occur if your binding isn't set up right. (This is the same for resort skiing)

2. Hidden rocks under the snow. Ski resorts often mark such obstacles but there is no such markings in the back country. Catching a rock can really hurt, especially if there are more rocks or shallow snow nearby.

3. Head injuries. This is pretty much the same as resorts. I strongly recommend wearing a helmet and replacing it every 5 years.

4. Snow blindness. Good sunglasses or goggles are a must, reflections from the snow make the landscape significantly brighter than normal and you can become temporarily blind without eye protection.

Communication with your group

Above all, the thing I have found to be the most important for safety is good communication with your group. If you see something that looks unsafe speak up! Never let one person convince the group its safe when you still have your doubts.

This communication should start when you are planning your trip, each member of the group should know where you are going, what the risks are and how you plan on mitigating them.

Regional Specific Safety (crevasses, undermined snow etc)

Always be aware of any specific hazards in an area. You should always read about your area and talk to knowledge people before you go. Here are a few examples.

Crevasses form when snow and ice flow downhill and create gaps in the snow. These are usually associated with glaciers which have their own set of safety precautions and training.

Flowing water can create undermined snow that can fall out from underneath you. Creeks, swamps, waterfalls and more can present various hazards to back country travel on the snow.

Holes can form next to trees when the snow accumulates around the tree but not as much underneath. It is possible to fall into these and get seriously stuck. Search for "tree well" for more info.

Contingencies

Your first line of defense against accidents, injuries, and catastrophes is the group you go with. If someone breaks a leg or is buried by an avalanche seach and rescue will not get there fast enough if you cannot take the first steps with rescue and first aid. However, it is good to plan on how you will get in contact with search and rescue if an incident occurs.

It is considered good practice to let someone know where you will be and when you expect to be back. Such instances are rare, but if something happens affecting the whole group, there will be someone who knows where to look for you.

In a more typical situation, you have someone in your group go to the trailhead and contact search and rescue from there. When doing this, you also generally want to leave someone with the injured person if possible. (This is the most common scenario in my experience).

Some people like to use personal locator beacons (PLB for short) which can transmit your location directly to search and rescue. I know people who have used PLBs and believe they are critical safety equipment. However, no technology can substitute good planning and training. As I mentioned earlier, it can take hours or sometimes even days for search and rescue to get to a location. Also, technology can fail, batteries die and satellite communications can be disrupted by weather. The PLB sould not be your only contingency plan.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Comments, suggestions, questions, criticism are all welcome!

I would kinda prefer leaving NSFW content hidden for my account if possible but I am worried I may miss someone posting something gross to my community. Is there a way to disallow all NSFW content for a community?

Since things are pretty small right now, I am going to make a few posts introducing the sport of back country skiing. Remember the first step before going into the back country is to take an in person avalanche course (see the side bar). All the titles will start with "Back country skiing 101" so they can be found easily. As always, questions comments, or snide remarks are welcome!

One of the first questions people usually ask me about back country skiing is "How do you get up the mountain without a chair lift?".

There are a few different ways but the most common is called "skinning" as shown by this photo. The skis are pretty similar to resort skis (but often lighter). I use bindings that can be released at the heel and pivot near the toe letting the ski slide along as you walk like a cross country ski. There are skins attached to the bottom of the skis that allow the ski to grab the snow rather than sliding backwards. These skins also allow the ski to slide forward easily. The skins attach using a combination of removable glue and hooks on the front and back of the ski (the orange tails on the back of my ski are where these hooks mount).
The boots are also a little different from what you may find in a resort, the ankles can pivot freely until you lock them in place. At the top of the hill, I remove the skins, lock the boots and heels in place and ski down.

I hope this is helpful for people, let me know what you think of this kind of post.

Shreddit is a popular tool for deleting comments on Reddit as a means of protest. However, I noticed that after a week or so there were a dozen or more comments from 9 months to a couple years that showed up again. No idea if this is intentional on the part of Reddit or not, but if you want your comment history gone, double check.