So I watched a few Snowsports videos while I was skiing in Banff last week. There is an increasing focus on avalanche education which is a good thing I think. I watched the Biography flick on Craig Kelly called Let it Ride and The Fine Line which is a sort of Hybrid action+education flick on Avalanches in the back country.

All go through the big three avy safety tools you should never be without:

1. Beacon/Transceiver. With fresh batteries and a user who knows how to use it. I’ve got one of the older model Barryvox beacons.
2. A probe- that’s long enough for the sort of locations you’re hitting. I have a 300cm G3 probe.
3. A shovel. I’m personally not a big fan of polycarbonate shovels, they may be lighter, but the wet snow here in NZ is just too likely to break them… You want a nice big alloy shovel for digging your friends out pronto like!

Something that a bunch of them missed was helmets. Back when I was a ‘grom’ skier Helmets were totally ‘uncool’… but that’s all changed, I wouldn’t be without mine. Several of the case studies in The Fine Line talked about severe head and facial injuries so a good Helmet is number 4 for me.

Check out this email that the guys from Shred Ready received about how one of their helmets helped in an avalanche situation.

http://shredready.com/team/2009/02/we-are-happy-our-friend-eric-zuaro.html