# Man pees his way out of an avalanche **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185 "2005-01-28T21:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/21 "2005-01-29T01:17:10Z")
Am I the only one thinking this story is a crock? I just don’t see how it’s possible to pee your way out of an avalanche. How much snow would you have to melt? And wouldn’t melted snow and pee come back through the window? And as has been observed already, drinking alcohol is likely to make him freeze. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/22 "2005-01-29T01:24:59Z")
Wow! This guy is my new hero. I thought it was originally Rick Moranis in _Strange Brew_ when he drank the vat of beer he was trapped in, got out, and put out the Elsinore Brewery fire by peeing on it . . . Tripler “If you ever want a job in the fire department son, just give me a call . . .” ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/23 "2005-01-29T02:48:55Z")
There is this, beer is calories and by drinking it, he would not go hungry. Barley sandwiches are better in that situation than trying to drink melt water too, ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/24 "2005-01-29T10:37:31Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Okay, then where did I get the idea ale is served warm? Is this a misconception I’ve had, now dashed to pieces? I don’t know what joazito is talking about. Or at least, I don’t know how they do things in Portugal. But in England they do indeed serve beer…not _warm_ by any means but definately not _freezing_ like it’s often served here. Mostly because they drink less of the piss-water beer we do and actually drink beer they want to _taste_ . ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/25 "2005-01-29T16:47:04Z")
You know, this would make the perfect beer ad… ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/26 "2005-01-29T17:00:10Z")
That is just so… cool. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/27 "2005-01-29T17:13:44Z")
I volunteer for any tests on how much a person can drink…I’ve been studying real hard! I’m still trying to picture exactly how the deed was accomplished. Did he physically pee on the snow, or did he refill the empties and dump it out the window? I’m thinking if it’s the former, he be a bendy-twisty man. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/28 "2005-01-29T17:17:45Z")
There’s 60 bottles of beer in the snow. There’s 60 bottles of beer. So take a drink, then go and make yellow snow. There’s 59 bottles of beer in the snow. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/29 "2005-01-29T17:29:16Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > I don’t know what joazito is talking about. Or at least, I don’t know how they do things in Portugal. But in England they do indeed serve beer…not _warm_ by any means but definately not _freezing_ like it’s often served here. Mostly because they drink less of the piss-water beer we do and actually drink beer they want to _taste_ . To further clarify: “Beer” is a generic term, that includes sub-groups such as ale, bitter, lager, stout, weissbier, etc. Some nationalities refer to a particular sub-group as “beer” - e.g. in the States it usually refers to lager; in the UK some people use the word to refer to just bitters and ales. In the UK, and by no means the rest of Europe, bitter and ale are served _at cellar temperature_: i.e. not freezing, but by no means warm. In Ireland, stout used to be served at cellar temperature but is now usually served cold. Lager, however, is served ice-cold pretty much everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/30 "2005-02-03T12:47:04Z")
The story has practically a perfect profile for an urban legend and [snopes](http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/avalanche.asp) tends to agree. If you wanted to melt snow using body heat there are 101 more sensible and practical ways of going about it. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/31 "2005-02-03T15:42:05Z")
I’m thinking he had several beers _before_ the avalanche. He then drank the rest of the 60 beers while trying to dig himself out over the next three days. He then woke up sober on the fourth day. Only to discover that the\* passenger side \*door had been clear of snow all along. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/32 "2005-02-03T16:56:09Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > The story has practically a perfect profile for an urban legend and [snopes](http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/avalanche.asp) tends to agree. Le Sigh… So much for my new hero. I’ll drink a few in his memory when I get home tonight. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/33 "2005-02-03T17:15:51Z")
I hope this isn’t going to start a trend in how they search for avalanche victims. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/34 "2005-02-03T17:49:38Z")
Snopes has pretty much confirmed this as an urban legend. Nuts. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/35 "2005-02-03T18:41:46Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Am I the only one thinking this story is a crock? I just don’t see how it’s possible to pee your way out of an avalanche. How much snow would you have to melt? And wouldn’t melted snow and pee come back through the window? And as has been observed already, drinking alcohol is likely to make him freeze. I too thought it was bogus when I first saw it in an email someone sent me. I think that so many respondents in this thread didn’t question the story says something about the human desire to believe. C’mon people, be skeptical! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185/36 "2005-02-03T18:50:33Z")
> [@lee](#): > > There is this, beer is calories and by drinking it, he would not go hungry. Barley sandwiches are better in that situation than trying to drink melt water too, Remember, all beer is food but all food is not beer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pees-his-way-out-of-an-avalanche/287185.md?page=1)