GRIGRI 2 [english] Petzl belay device with… by Petzl-crew

Sales Associates with the following outdoor experience.

CLIMBING

TRAIL RUNNING

KAYAKING & PADDLEBOARDS

BACKPACKING & HIKING

Part-time & full-time positions available

Seasonal with the potential for year round employment

Flexible scheduling opportunities

Full-time year-round with benefits

by John Darby: Store Manager

As more Lake Tahoe frontside skiers are heading into the backcountry, not only are we seeing more avalanches, unfortunately we are also seeing a dramatic increase in fatalities. Your odds of surviving an avalanche definitely increases if you have taken an avalanche/snow safety course however the data shows us that your odds of being dug out in time by fellow skiers are still pretty slim. In fact in a study released by the Swiss Federal Institute of Snow and Avalanche Safety, 53% of avalanche victims completely buried did not survive, while only 4% of those not buried died. These are astonishing figures; so what is the answer…don’t get buried!

Even when you and your skiing group are wearing beacons and carrying snow shovels and probes, your survival time after being buried is 18 minutes at best. If your group is caught in an avalanche, hopefully you are spread out enough so that at least a couple of members are free to activate a search.  Because you are dependent on the skills of others to find and dig you out, beacons could be classified as a passive method of survival.

You should carry beacons, probes and avalanche airbags, if you had to leave something behind make sure it is not the airbag. Avalanche airbags are much more proactive, and by wearing them you are doing everything you can not to get buried in the first place. Documented data shows a 97% survival rate for those wearing an avalanche airbag.

If these numbers are true, why aren’t more backcountry skiers wearing airbags? For one, they are relatively new to the skiing consumer, two, they are expensive, and three, they definitely increase the weight you are carrying on your uphill climb. An avalanche airbag can set you back upwards of $1000, that’s a lot to slap down, but if you think about it we plunk down that or more on skis, ski boots, and bindings. Unless you want to head out for a backcountry ski and stick to terrain that is only 36 degrees of angle, you should carry an avalanche airbag. The reality is that even if you are standing in a meadow you can be overtaken by a powerful avalanche trigged high up in the surrounding peaks and couloirs.

Many people think that avalanche airbags work like a life jacket, they don’t. Avalanches are not water, they are snow, wet or dry, granular or a combination of loose snow and moving slabs of snow. Yes, an airbag does give you flotation but that’s not the gist of it. Imagine a bag of potato chips, when you open it all the crumbs are at the bottom while the large unbroken chips are at the top. When an avalanche airbag is deployed it increases your volume therefore in a rushing wave of snow you in essence become the unbroken potato chip. You will have more volume than the churning particles of snow around you, and you will continually be pushed to the top especially if you are in a horizontal position. You’re still in for a rough ride and you will be tossed around but odds are you will remain on top or close to the top of the snow.

If you’re a backcountry skier, or even a frontside big powder day skier you should come in to Granite Chief and check out our avalanche demo bag. In our Lake Tahoe ski store we have an ABS Avalanche Airbag that you can try on and get the lowdown on how it works. Next ski season Granite Chief will carry two brands, ABS, and Mammut’s Ride R.A.S.

At the end of the day there is no substitute for good snow safety/avalanche skills and plain old common sense. Wearing an avalanche bag is no excuse to head into extreme avalanche conditions and terrain. Always check the avalanche forecast, ski with a buddy, and ski within your abilities. Most importantly, be fully prepared, carry a beacon, probe, snow shovel, and wear an avalanche airbag.