Avalanche backpacks

cormee wrote:

I haven't seen them for rent in many resorts, and I have checked. Hopefully they will become more available in years to come.

Ive seen them for rent in St Anton.

I used to be really blase about off piste. I basically got into it in Chamonix where everyone did it and I was totally oblivious to the risk. The entire mountain in Argentiere gets tracked out immediately in fresh snow. Everyone goes everywhere, like ants. Aul ones in onesies with no helmet. Kids. Tourists. And I did the same.

In fairness, where people go off piste all the time, and it gets mogulled as a result, its relatively safe, or at least less dangerous than an unskied slope in same conditions (hilariously in the avalanche literature its called "the Arlberg effect"). But in Chamonix I now shudder to think I went up the top lift in GM, skipped under the "high mountain itinerary only" rope, and skied down the front face, alone. I realise now its a fcuking glacier and I could have gone into a crevasse without anyone even knowing I was there. I had no idea of the risk.

I think in general thats the way we, as Irish tourists, approach a ski area. Its like a theme park, we've paid our entry ticket and then we want to run around like a mad yoke. Its all a bit of craic. But you need to remember that in fact the high mountains are a totally uncontrolled environment, and we can't survive up there without the life support we put up there for people. You get in trouble up there and you will die, quite quickly.

I changed my attitude when I had kids and I read more and more about avalanche deaths and avalanches in general. I also face planted at high speed in deep snow in Cervinia after the last lifts had closed, off piste, right up at the top and the guy I was with didn't notice and went on. I was upside down in the deep fresh snow, with snow literally in my lungs and airway, I couldn't move apart from one elbow, which I used to scrape my airway clean and dig myself out after a few minutes. Those first few seconds when I couldn't breathe were the scariest moments of my life. It was horrific. I feel if I had been going a little bit faster I could have been totally stuck and suffocated or frozen to death overnight. Totally unnecessarily, totally innocuously. Just off the side of the piste. Really reminded me of how important it was to have a buddy and to keep an eye out for each other.

Now I don't do any substantial off piste without a guide and am much less reckless with casual off piste. Two years ago I was in Courmayeur, hired a guide, on the way to meet him in the lift and he rang to say he thought it was too dangerous, he was cancelling the day. This meant he wouldn't get paid, which for guys who have short seasons and don't earn crazy money, must not be the easiest thing to do. That day there was a huge avalanche off the side of the pisted area where we had spent the two previous days skiing, over ten skiers were caught in it and 3 died. It was a classic case of powder panic, they were all in the same gully area on a high risk day, someone triggered it and it caught them all. I was skiing the piste that accessed it all that day and could see lots of skiers heading off along the track to the side of the piste which accessed the area. A couple of years ago I would 100 % have followed them, I have no doubt. It looked exactly like a nice "local knowledge" run in Chamonix. It was exactly where I hoped the guide would bring us. Was a real eye opener for me.

I have a transceiver probe and shovel now. The transceiver may help me, if someone sees me getting buried, but if I'm honest, I have yet to practice trying to find someone else with it and I have it over a year now. I also bought two books on avalanches, neither of which I read and one of which I lost. I only know the loose basics of how to go probing for someone. I got a demonstration prior to a guiding day in St Anton and I reread the manual each time I fly out. But really I should try and practice using the transceiver itself in Ireland. Its hard to find the time. And when I'm out on a 3 day powder chase, chomping at the bit having hunted the conditions and time off for weeks even months, ain't no way I am taking time off the slopes to learn.

I rent airbags if they're available and I intend on off piste guiding or a lot of side piste with fresh snow, I had one the 3 days I was skiing this week and the time before. Paid 25 per day this week, previously I got it for I think a tenner when hiring a mountain guide in Cervinia. But they're not that easy to get and sell out when conditions are good.

I definitely feel better with one on. I must have looked quite the clown the last few days as I spent most of my time on the piste skiing it badly! All the gear, can barely steer! Plus Rew is absolutely right - you should be educating yourself to avoid the avalanche, airbag is literally your last port of call. Its not like the star in mario bros!

They are quite expensive to buy, like 600 - 1000, and most cannot be carried on planes without prior clearance which I think is tricky to get, as they are kind of explosive. There is one which is electrically charged you can bring on planes.

Also, plenty of people get killed with airbags on.

In fact, all of the above is really no substitute to either not taking the risk at all, or engaging a guide.

Guides and gear are not cheap, but there are a few simple things you can do that will help mitigate the risk:-

- don't take off piste for granted, there's a whole world of risk there that a casual skier would never be aware of

- never go off piste alone, the most inoccuous thing could end up killing you, it happens every year, people die just off the side of the piste

- try and be aware of the avalanche risk, really you shouldn't be doing any off piste at all if its 4 (and certainly not without a guide), and probably not if its 3. More people die at 3 than any other level.

- if there is a risk avoid slopes more than 30 degrees as they tend to be where the risk is concentrated - you can get apps on your phone to measure the slope with a pole, but safer stuff will probably be about blue gradient

- never skip into a closed piste as the piste may be closed due to avalanche risk. Couple of years ago there was an incident when I think 6 french students were killed when their teacher took them on to a closed piste, horrific stuff. Just don't do it, apart from anything else its disrespectful to the pisteurs who have a job to do and are trying to keep you safe.

In general trees are safer as they hold the snow pack - I always think that the safest place is trees between pistes that other skiers regularly go - the pistes and areas around them will be blasted for avalanches, there's traffic, there's probably moguls from previous skier's tracks before the snowfall and hopefully those previous skiers know the area to be safe. Hopefully people can be alerted if something goes wrong. But its still dangerous in there, this year there may well be tree wells in the Alps, because its so deep, you may not know where you'll end up and its easy to crash into something / catch a ski on a root.

Finally - if you're lucky enough to be somewhere during heavy snowfall then its worth bearing in mind that the first runs on pistes when they open up are basically off piste. Try and hit the first lift and get your fix in without the risk.

Brilliant post, I'd say your experience really shook you up, alas its not until you have a scare or you read up on it you realise the risk.

As you say, as a nation we are probably too blaise! We just hit the mountain with the only care in the world is where the next gluwein or jager will come form.

Actually I think the above post is a bit grim and fear filled - bit of the post ski trip black dog there!

The reality is some of the best craic to be had on skis is buzzing around with your mates skipping into powder in between or just beside pistes, and on those little rat runs through trees but close to piste. Kind of like mario cart on skis

Its very unlikely something goes wrong in those runs. You'd have to hit something hard or crash and have a wall of snow collapse on you and no one see. This does happen but once you're aware of the risk its probably not worth worrying about, particularly if you watch out for each other. Probably more risk driving too / from resort.

The real uptake from the above is not to take the big mountain, and big open snow faces or gullies for granted. Be aware of risk and get a guide or join a guided group if you can afford it.

Enjoy it lads!

Rew wrote: »

Tree wells are a little known death trap those areas so still important to be with friends and have each others backs

Scary video - tree wells are absolutely lethal - but there's no way that child should've been there in the first place. He was still doing snow plough.
Had an instructor for a day in Alpe d'Huez who was showing me the best off-piste routes and his biggest bugbear was kids being brought on slopes they clearly weren't able for. He pointed out over 5 examples of it going up 1 chair lift, kids snow-ploughing their way down steep reds led by their parents, most of the kids looking like they were aged 10 or less.

Have a pieps jetforce myself. Airplane friendly. Expensive but worth it. An obvious advantage is being able to deploy multiple times on a single charge. Have used it with friends to give them the experience of deploying an airbag. Wouldn't venture off piste without it. Always carry shovel, probe and transceiver regardless if not planning off piste trip.

Find time to bury a pack with a transceiver in it to practice locating, using a probe and digging.

FYI, never take your gloves off to dig. Get a shovel.