The most important reason for carrying an ice axe up in the mountains is to be able to “self-arrest” or stop yourself from sliding down and off the mountain if you fall. It is not, as some people think, a glorified walking stick with a pointy end for showing off in the parking lot. To […]
Avalanche Safety Gear: Probes, Avalanche Beacons and Shovels
I’ve written quite a bit in the past about advanced avalanche safety gear that is meant to help you survive an avalanche. These are bits of safety equipment such as the Snowpulse, ABS (Avalanche Airbag System) and Black Diamond Avalung that are all meant to help you once you have actually been buried by a […]
Avalanche provides bad start to the European snowsports season
Post-Christmas avalanches in Italy that killed 7 have provided a sobering reminder of the dangers they pose. In this instance it seems that a couple of people disregarded warnings of a high risk of avalanche and ventured out on snowshoes before being swept away. A group of rescuers including guides and instructors set out to […]
Ski helmets – uncool but they could save your life
It is hard to think of anything less cool than venturing outdoors wearing a plastic or polystyrene dome on your head, but like bicycle helmets and hard climbing hats, ski helmets are slowly catching on.For the past couple of years parents have been putting helmets on their kids – probably because the little ones don’t […]
The downside of personal locator beacons
In recent years personal locator beacons have fallen in price hugely. Not too long ago these were used mainly by governments and on ships and cost upwards of $1000. Now you can get them for just a couple of hundred bucks. One would think that rescue teams would think this was a good thing. After […]