Hey, smarty pants and smarty families.
So today I was supposed to bring you the sad news that this would be the last day of our special happy birthday.
50 off Who Smarted Plus subscription.
But guess what?
With Thanksgiving and Black Friday coming up, I just had to extend it another couple of weeks.
So now you have until the end of November to sign up for Who Smarted Plus and get an entire year of smarting ad free, including a brand new subscriber only bonus episode every single week.
That's right.
For just 166 a month, you'll be supporting the show and giving the gift of smarting to the smarty pants in your life, just in time for the holidays.
You can't even get a decent slice of pizza for $1.66.
So what do you say?
Go to our website, whosmarted.com, and click birthday subscribe today.
That's whosmarted.com, click birthday subscribe.
This is only available on our website at whosmarted.com.
You are smart.
And I and all your friends at Who Smarted will be glad you did.
Thanks and happy holidays.
And now it's time for Who Smarted.
Hey, smarty pants.
Welcome to Who Smarted.
As you can hear, I'm up in the snowy mountains.
The air is crisp and cool.
The snow is soft and powdery.
And the echoes are very echoey.
Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!
No, you don't want to do that.
Do what?
Yodel.
But isn't that what areas near snowy mountains are known for?
It's like the sound of music.
And just listen to that echo.
Yodel-ay, yodel-ay, yodel-ay.
I get that it's fun and sounds great, but it could also be dangerous.
Dangerous?
Yodeling?
How can yodeling be dangerous?
Unless, of course, I lose my voice from yodeling and can't narrate who's smarted.
Yodeling.
Don't think that's what you mean.
No, this isn't about losing your voice, it's about your voice triggering an avalanche.
Ah, where did those loud violins come from?
Oh, i see listen dave, my nervous novice mountain climbing friend, i don't think you have anything to worry about.
Trust me, i know a thing or two about avalanches and i say we're perfectly shh.
Now what I thought.
I heard a rumble like an avalanche starting.
No, that's just my tummy, which means it's snack time.
How about some popcorn?
Shh!
We're both going to be eating snow if you don't keep it down.
I'm telling you, Dave, we're perfectly fine.
Hey, that wasn't me this time.
See, snowy mountains just make people want to yodel.
It's not safe.
Do you think, smarty pants, can a yodel trigger an avalanche?
And if not, what does trigger an avalanche?
And how much power is in all that falling snow?
And once an avalanche starts, is there any way to get out of its way?
It's time for another whiff of science on relax dave, it's just the theme music.
It won't trigger an avalanche, you sure I promise.
Okay.
Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who Smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science?
Or history?
Listen up, everyone.
We make smarting lots of fun on Who Smarted?
I don't know.
That Who Smarted singer was really loud.
Yes, but notice he didn't trigger an avalanche.
I think we got lucky.
That snowy mountaintop makes me nervous.
Trust me, we're not in any danger right now.
How can you be so sure?
Well, it helps if you know a thing or two about avalanches.
Smarty Pants, let's start with the basics.
What is an avalanche?
Is it A a sudden snowstorm, B a crack in the earth or.
C a large amount of material sliding quickly down a slope?
Material?
You mean material things like jewelry and other fancy stuff?
We are living in a material world.
What?
Where did that music come from?
Don't worry, Dave.
As for material, that can be most anything.
And in case you didn't guess it, the correct answer is C.
Avalanches are material sliding quickly down a slope.
With avalanches, most time it's rocks, mud, ice, or snow.
Question two.
Smarty Pants.
Which of those materials I just mentioned do you think is the most common type of avalanche?
If you said snow, you're right.
But avalanches of rocks and mud happen all the time, especially after a period of intense rain or rapid snowmelt, also known as thaw.
Question three.
Smarty Pants, do you know what those non-snowy avalanches are called?
Are they landslides or c, slipping slides?
If you guessed b landslides, you're correct.
These type of avalanches are also known as lahars, debris avalanches and mudslides, and all of those can be pretty dangerous to people or property right, which is why we don't want to trigger an avalanche.
Oh no, is that rumbling snow?
Nope, oh no, but now my stomach's rumbling.
Maybe you should have a snack too.
Ooh, who wants meat cake?
Ah, where did she come from?
And she's even louder than the yodeler.
Relax, Dave.
I still don't see or hear any signs of an avalanche.
Of course, if we did see or hear one, we'd have to think fast.
Avalanches move quickly.
Oh, yeah.
Just how fast do they move?
Very.
Smarty pants.
Imagine you're in a car that's driving on a highway and you're going the top speed limit and you look out the window to see an avalanche in the next lane.
The avalanche beeps?
No, of course not.
But in this example, it does.
Now, that avalanche in the next lane, chances are it will pass you.
A typical large avalanche can travel up to 80 miles per hour, or 130 kilometers per hour.
However, some avalanches can reach even higher speeds.
Smarty Pants, how fast do you think a fully developed massive avalanche could travel.
Would you say faster than a 100 mile per hour speedboat?
Faster than a 200 mile per hour race car?
Or faster than an 800 mile per hour supersonic jet?
Does every example have to be so loud?
Now I'm yelling.
Well, smarty pants, I'm glad to say, avalanches don't travel at supersonic speeds, so it's not the jet plane.
But they have been known to go as fast as a race car.
And with great speed comes great power.
Now, look at that caveman over there.
Caveman?
There's a caveman here?
Ooga booga, me smash big rock.
Should he be doing that?
It's really loud.
And a waste of time.
Grog here can smash that boulder all he wants, but it ain't going anywhere.
Oh!
Caveman can't move this boulder, but a large avalanche would have no problem knocking it over.
All that snow, ice and rock really packs a punch, and as an avalanche heads downhill, it picks up more material.
Question four.
Smartypants, can you guess how much a fully developed avalanche can weigh?
Is it A, as much as a car?
B, as much as an ambulance?
Or C, as much as an elephant?
Seriously?
Does every example have to be the loudest things you can think of?
Any one of them could trigger an avalanche.
Grrrr!
Me smash rock, but rock no move!
Grrrr!
Shh!
Huh?
Do you hear snake?
Grog smash snake!
I should just prepare myself to be buried by an avalanche.
So, how much does it weigh?
Smartypants, if you said an avalanche weighs as much as an elephant... Grrrr!
You're right.
Oof, an elephant is pretty heavy.
Oh, but I'm not talking about just one elephant.
A fully developed avalanche can weigh as much as 143,000 elephants.
Imagine that many elephants stampeding down a mountain right at you.
Grog, run for his primitive life!
Yeah, that kind of power not only moves rocks, but it can destroy forests and villages.
Avalanches are also known to kill 150 people each year.
Oh, boy.
But you can't outrun an avalanche like that caveman, right?
Is there any way to escape one?
Attention!
Of course, another loud character.
I hear you climbers want to know how to escape an avalanche.
Is that right?
Uh... I said, is that right?
Yes, Sarge, that's right.
Any chance you could tell us quietly?
Are you telling me how to speak, soldier?
No, I'm sorry.
Also, I'm not a soldier.
Yeah, well, you can still drop and give me 50 push-ups.
Same goes for you, narrator.
Oh, great.
Thanks, Dave.
Zip it, trusty.
Let's go.
50 push-ups.
And 50.
Okay, where was I?
Were going to tell us how to escape an avalanche, right?
If you're ever caught in an avalanche, what you want to do is coming up right after this quick break.
Are you interrupting me?
That's 50 more push-ups, let's go.
Who smart?
It is brought to you by Squarespace.
They know I'm good about creating new adventures and episodes of who smarted, but you don't know that I procrastinate on other stuff, like a website for one of our new projects.
Oops.
When the website builder Squarespace reached out about sponsoring Whosmarted, I decided to test it out.
And now I feel silly for putting off building that website.
Squarespace's Blueprint AI thing literally built me a custom website in minutes.
I just told it a few details about the project and boom, it generated everything.
And everything you need is right there.
I can schedule guest interviews, send email campaigns, even sell merch all from one dashboard.
Now it's your turn to stop procrastinating and start building.
You can use Squarespace to launch that business site or any site that you've been dreaming about but putting off today.
There's no excuse anymore, especially since you can head to squarespacecom slash smarted for a free trial.
And when you're ready to launch, you can use code smarted to save 10 on your first purchase of a website or domain.
That's squarespace.com slash smarted code smarted.
Smarted.
Now back to Who Smarted?
Okay, Sarge, how does one escape an avalanche?
The key thing is to think, act, and move fast.
Got that?
Uh... Faster!
Yes, sir.
Moving fast.
Me too.
Me too.
If you're on skis, you want to go straight downhill to pick up speed.
And if you're on a snowmobile, you want to rev that engine.
When you get to the bottom of the slope.
You definitely don't want to be under the oncoming avalanche.
You should always try to veer off to the side.
If that doesn't work, try grabbing onto something.
Smarty Pits, what's something you can grab if you're stuck in an avalanche?
A rock, a tree, or a low-flying eagle?
Listen up, men.
If you can grab a tree, grab a tree.
But if you're going too fast, you might hit that tree too hard.
So in that case, try swimming instead.
Swimming?
But there's no water.
Yes, swim in the snow.
That'll keep you from sinking.
Because when you hit the bottom of the slope, you're going to want to be at the top of the snow.
And what happens when you hit the bottom of the slope?
Snow settles like concrete, making it impossible to move.
Right before that happens, punch your fist upwards, creating a hole and clear space around your mouth.
That'll help you breathe.
Ah! and make it easier for rescuers to find you.
That's good advice.
I hope we never have to use.
Right.
Well, carry on.
Very smart, but also very loud.
But he didn't cause an avalanche.
Fine.
How loud do you have to get to trigger an avalanche?
Good question.
The answer is...
Oh no, now what other loud person has found us?
This is Chet Nickerson reporting live with a snowy mountain newsflash.
The trusty narrator and his nervous climbing buddy Dave are... Shh!
Sorry Dave, but you can't silence the news.
As I was saying, the trusty narrator and his friend Dave are in for a big treat, because the mountaintop marching band is about to play.
What? yelled really loud.
Did I trigger an avalanche?
Well, if you did, I sure know what my lead story would be for this evening's news report.
Let's get to the bottom of this once and for all.
Smarty Pants, true or false?
Loud noises trigger avalanches.
The answer is false.
False?
How can that be?
Everyone knows loud noises cause avalanches.
Sorry, Dave, but that happens only in TV shows, movies, or made-up stories.
Real-life avalanches are not caused by loud noises.
Final question, smarty pants.
What is the number one cause of the deadliest avalanches?
Is it A, earthquakes, B, human activity, or C, weather?
I don't know.
Seems like all those things could trigger an avalanche.
You're right, Dave, but a whopping 90% of all avalanches involving people are caused by...
People.
Skiing.
Snowboarding.
Mountain climbing.
And snowmobiling.
Have all been known to trigger avalanches.
They happen when a person or vehicle goes over a thick layer of snow that's sitting atop weaker and more slippery snow.
This collapses the weak layer and all the snow on top of it starts tumbling down.
That could still happen here.
I've seen skiers on this mountaintop.
Not to mention a marching band.
True, but avalanches don't usually strike without warning.
A slope that had recent snowstorms, major temperature changes or heavy winds is more susceptible to an avalanche.
Avalanche experts look for warning signs to make sure that popular snowy spots like this trail are safe.
Sometimes they might even trigger an avalanche on purpose.
On purpose?
They do it when nobody's around in order to prevent one from happening later.
Ah.
But these experts can't be everywhere.
These days, most avalanche victims are skiers or snowmobilers out in the wilderness where there are very few people.
So we're safe from avalanches here?
You betcha.
Well, in that case, there's something I've been wanting to do all day.
Oh, yeah?
What's that?
Yodel-ay, yodel-ay, yodel-ay.
Ah.
Cool shout out to Aston in Detroit, Michigan.
We hear you love the variety of subjects on Who Smarted and that the Minecraft episode is your favorite.
Thanks for smarting with us and being part of our smarting family, Aston.
This episode Avalanches, was written by Dangerous Dave Beaudry and voiced by Will Ormsby-Carrie, Adam Lanch, Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hazardous-Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Mudslide-Kamasky.
The theme song is by Brian Snowslide-Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Kolber.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
