Since the advent of digital signal processing and the three-antenna transceiver design, avalanche beacon tech advances have been relatively incremental. There have been minor design updates, processing improvements and some promising features like voice direction and signal flagging. Nonetheless, for the average user, it’s hard to see the differences between most beacons. The Barryvox S2 by Mammut aims to change… Read More
Avalanche Rescue and Snow Pits – The BCA Dozer 2H Shovel Does It All Avalanche shovels are the kind of gear we hope to never really use for their intended purpose of recovering a buried ski partner. But the shovels we all carry have many other uses, primary being to dig snow pits in search of weak layers and to… Read More
Can You Dig It – Avalanche Shoveling Technique 101 Avalanche rescue has several stages. The longest and most strenuous aspect of most rescues is the shoveling phase. Proficient shoveling saves valuable minutes. From where you start digging relative to your probe strike to how you effectively move snow, there are several shoveling techniques that help make for fast, efficient recovery… Read More
Avalanche Rescue Probe Technique Aside from understanding the hazard and avoiding avalanches, most backcountry skiers focus their snow safety efforts on efficient transceiver use. Proficiency with your beacon is definitely important. However, given a burial, shoveling and probing can easily be the most time-consuming piece of an avalanche rescue. Backcountry Access (BCA) offers a number of educational avalanche-rescue blogs and… Read More
