Jeff Davis wrote:
TexasSkiNut wrote:
For those of us predisposed to these occurences, even a small particle
hitting just the wrong spot can trigger one. I had a tortilla chip
cause one once, as did some red pepper on a sandwich bun. Not fun at
all. I even have had one trigerred once by chomping on some ice. So,
to answer the OP's question, YES, it is possible to "drown" in snow,
but it is much more likely that you'd suffocate.
[snip]
So I can see asphyxiation and suffocation, but by your very denotation
of dry drowning, one must first inhale water. Without the inhalation of
water, there is no drowning. Good research.

As Bill Clinton might say, define inhale. If you mean that water (or
whatever substance acts as the trigger) must get past the larynx and
into the windpipe, then I can assure you from my personal experience
that laryngospasms can be triggered before that happens. And by my
previous denotation (i.e. tortilla chips & red pepper), water does not
have to be involved for a laryngospasm to occur. The ice example was
merely to demonstrate that the H2O did not need to be in liquid form to
trigger a laryngospasm.

My research was out of necessity, as I had been having laryngospasms
for about 26 years without any doctor ever using the term laryngospasm.
They would all nod as I explained what was happening but none offered
any useful information. Worst of all was the idiot allergist that
misdiagnosed it as severe asthma when I was a teen and had my first
attack. About 3 years ago, after two pretty severe attacks in the
middle of the night as a byproduct of allergies (sinus drainage has
caused probably 90% of my episodes) I got busy with Google and found
out what it was called. Unfortunately I did not find any treatment for
the condition nor useful suggestions for alleviating the attacks. Best
I found was "try to avoid situations which might cause a laryngospasm".
ObSki: skiing with tobacco or other stuff in my mouth would be a bad
idea. Heck, I have to be careful when squirting water into my mouth
from my bottle when biking or skiing. I've triggered an attack or two
while biking.