For instance, when we added seat belts and airbags to cars, yes fatalities decreased, but it also allowed us to drive faster, farther, crazier and talk on our mobile phones at the same time. In avalanche airbag case, we will also get more powder, more fun, and more risk in the bargain. My best guess is that avalanche airbag packs will probably save a little more than half of those who would have otherwise have died in an avalanche. They will never save all of them because 1 out of 4 will likely die from trauma of hitting trees and rocks on the way down and an additional 1 out of 4 will probably end up in a terrain trap deep burial , buried by a secondary avalanche or caught in an avalanche that does not travel far enough for the inverse segregation process to work larger objects rise to the surface.
In addition, people will increase their exposure to risk because of the perception of increased safety, which will cancel out some, but not all, of the effectiveness of avalanche airbags. As usual, our choice of terrain is far more important than rescue gear.
Un-survivable terrain will always be un-survivable. In terrain with few obstacles, terrain traps, sharp transitions and smaller paths, avalanche airbags have the potential to save significantly more than half of those who would have otherwise died. And that sounds pretty good to me. I am not going to be whiny here, but feel compelled to state that "best guess" numbers aren't always the best way to convey fact.
I have looked extensively into ABS packs because it is one of the products I clinic shops on in my line of work. I get these questions all day long when speaking with shop employees, and need to say that you seem to be downplaying the benefits of an ABS pack in an avalanche situation. I understand that you want to keep folks from feeling like superman, but to talk down on a technology that has been proven to save lives is a long reach.
I have found you guys to be extremely credible in the past, but feel this type of spin on the topic makes me wonder if your end goal is to save lives, or something else.
Bruce's Note: As we can see, doing statistics on avalanche airbags is tricky business because it all depends on the design of the study and how you filter the data. Pascal chose to only include those who were "seriously involved" and exclude those in which the avalanche airbag probably did not make a difference in the outcome.
And as such it skews the data towards less survivable avalanches. In addition, he included the modern Canadian and U. So it represent perhaps the worst case scenario, as he stated. If you look at 5 other data sets of mostly European data, the numbers range from 35 to 81 average of 64 people out of who would be saved by an avalanche airbag, which is in the same ballpark as Pascal's study see the April issue of the Avalanche Review. It seems to me that if we all used risk reduction measures taught in avalanche classes, such as proper choice of terrain, low-risk travel ritual one at a time, etc.
But we are all human, after all, and we often don't follow the rules or make the best decisions. Plus risk homeostasis is usually responsible for more modest gains in safety than we expect. I've read those studies and have come to similar.
I'd like to add some thoughts on the subject that helped me arrive at my views towards airbags. Airbags not needed due to low likelihood of avalanche and easy rescue probability, are likely not effective as the slide is too small to get into the fluid particle physics needed to float the bag.
This is the vast majority of avalanche hazard and good ski terrain. Folks who have advanced skills can safely ski here making good use of terrain. Slides are big enough to make airbags effective fluid particle physics , and the terrain is survivable. If people are eating risk which I caution against the bag might just same them here, likewise if someone doing all the right things just makes a mistake.
This is either the foolish novice being where they have no right to be, or an expert who has eaten hazard risk on challenging terrain. Either way a bag is not going to help on the high consequence terrain, and if you're using it as a get out of jail free card on the odds are going to catch you sooner or later. My conclusion, air bags are most effective and needed at the junction of considerable hazard and challenging terrain, which is where most of us ski most of the time.
I thought I would relate my experience in deploying my airbag this december in a skier triggered slide in West facing Scotties this avalanche accident was reported to UAC by myself and Lindy on December 26, I had a decent size slab, about 2.
UAC incorrectly recorded the slide as ' vertical, but it was ' in width. I immediately deployed the airbag as I saw the slab fracture and begin to slide. The crown line was just a few feet above me when the slab broke. The width of the fracture meant that I could not attempt to ski off of the slab, I was instantly sliding downhill with large blocks of snow all around me.
Because I was at the very top of the slab, my instinct was to self-arrest, and let the debris slide downhill beneath me. The airbag seemed to help keep me above the moving debris, and to keep me upright. I dug my edges will all my life, sliding faster and faster down the mountain as the slab accelerated rapidly.
I managed to slide slower than the avalanche, and after five seconds or so, the majority of the moving snow accelerated away from me. I was able to stop completely, and watch as the slide exploded into a stand of aspens a few hundred feet down slope.
I am certain that without the buyancy of the airbag, I would have been fully englufed by the avalanche, and would have certainly suffered severe injury due to trauma hitting the trees downslope. As it was, my bindings held, and all I suffered was a sore knee and a good dose of ptsd. In hindsight, I think that a whippet would have really helped my efforts to self-arrest on the bed surface. I was able to self-arrest by the narrowest of margins, clawing and edging like my life depended on it.
A whippet or axe would have made a huge difference. But it was definately the airbag that gave me a fighting chance to stay upright, and allow the heavier avy debris to flow out beneath me.
Please that others may learn from this close call of mine. FWIW, I would rather have an airbag than a beacon at this point in my backcountry career. The airbag can really change the trajectory of an accident, whereas a beacon only helps to pick up the pieces once the shit hits the fan. Make the line of your dreams the line of your life. If you ski more days in the backcountry than at lift service then you should have a float bag. The company has been researching and developing the system since The product is simple and reliable.
There a few things to know before just sending into powder heaven but basically make sure your system is operational and that you know how to use it. In the event of an avalanche, activation is the key to survival.
As soon as a slide starts pull the high visibility pneumatic pull and try to escape. In the avalanche, try and protect your head by making a swimming motion. Kick your skis off and stay calm.
But on the first to go, I glanced over my shoulder. The entire face above us was breaking, remotely triggered by another party with a crown nearly feet wide and 3 feet high. If I had dropped in a few seconds earlier, the avalanche surely would have swept me to the valley floor.
That moment, the closest call in my 5-year tenure as a backcountry skier, uncorked a curiosity for avalanche safety. Through this search, one thing stood out like a sore thumb. Part of the reason for this is that some myths about avi packs and avalanche safety persist — despite all that research. Below, we debunk five of the most common myths about avi packs. You may find it curious that so few people use airbag packs.
To learn more, I spoke with Pascal Haegeli, Ph. Haegeli leads a team of 10 researchers and works with both public and private entities in North America. His airbag pack research was a side project with the Canadian Avalanche Association that spans nearly 20 years of data across seven countries. Bottom line, airbag packs reduced mortality rates [for those caught in avalanches] by a little over half. Haegeli noted that because asphyxia is the primary cause of death among avalanche victims, airbags help by keeping you closer to the surface of the slide.
Haegeli acknowledged that some skeptics have expressed concern that skiing with an airbag pack exposes people to more risk. To learn more, he ran a person survey, and sure enough, some responded that they would push farther into the backcountry with an airbag pack.
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