Know About Safety Equipment

The most essential safety equipment during an emergency are Avalanche Probe, Avalanche Shovel and Avalanche Transceiver.

Avalanche Probe is a safety equipment, which is used to know the location and burial depth. It is a metal rod that probe through the avalanche debris. The average rescue time with the avalanche probe is estimated to be 11 minutes and 25 minutes without the probe. The probe is supposed to be longer  than 2 meters, and is used commonly among backcountry skiers. There are carbon probes and aluminum probes, where shorter carbon probes are mainly used by fast-and-light ski tourists who cover long distances and aluminum probes are used by avalanche professionals and patrollers. Carbon probes are expensive, lightweight, and easier to pack, whereas aluminum probes are longer, heavier, durable and effective in dense snow. 

Avalanche Shovels are another important safety equipment used especially during backcountry skiing. It is mainly used for rescue missions when someone is buried inside the snow. Apart from that, it can also be a winter platform to the camping stove to smoothing out a sledding hill. Everyone prefers a light and packable shovel, but it’s main purpose is to move a ton of snow which require a large blade. The main materials used are aluminum and carbon, because it needs to have enough strength without being very heavy. That’s the reason why metal and plastic shovels are not preferred. The shovel blades are usually of four different types such as fully flat, scooped, serrated and blades with holes. They have mainly T-grip or D-grip for holding the shovel.

Avalanche Transceiver is an electronic device which emits radio signals picked by other transceivers in order to help in locating the victim. All transceivers, regardless of their brand are operating at 457KHz. It is widely used among Backcountry skiers, because they may experience avalanche accidents. The transceiver should be switched to transmission mode when your group starts the expedition. In order to receive the signal from the missing member, switch the transceiver to receive mode. The transceiver has a display screen which shows the direction and distance of the missing person, and most transceivers now-a-days have 3 antennas which efficiently helps in locating the victim. Usually the batteries used are either alkaline or lithium, depending on the brand/product. Place the transceiver in the pocket or anywhere on the outer layer of your clothing and keep it away from other electronic devices like mobiles phones in order to avoid the interference. 

Apart from the ski-lifts and other skiing equipment, these safety equipment is considered to be one of the most essential tool in ski-resorts required for an expedition.