You could be the fastest skier in the world, but you wouldn’t be able to out-ski a snowslide. Snowslides are the most common kind of avalanche. They can travel more than 200 miles per hour, dumping as much as a million tons of snow, rock, and mud down a mountain. That’s a serious problem. Especially if you’re the guy underneath with nothing but skis and poles to get you out of there!
Enter human creativity. As more adventurers take to wild terrain, companies market more safety-geared inventions. This year’s Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City showcased the newest inventions for avalanche safety.
How about an avalanche-tailored airbag? A skier caught in an avalanche can pull a trigger on his front strap, and whoosh! An airbag inflates. Product marketer Bruce Edgerly says, “It makes you a bigger object. In an avalanche, the biggest objects, like the biggest pieces of debris, end up on the surface.” Skier Elyse Saugstad can confirm: A 2012 Washington avalanche killed three people, but Saugstad’s airbag saved her life.
Next in the lineup were beacons—digital devices that help a team of skiers find each other in the snow. Beacons have been around for a long time, but their technology just keeps getting sharper. One French device called the “Neo” can find someone buried in snow almost 200 feet away!
Another invention—the snow probe—sounds simple enough. Skiers use long, foldable sticks to hit the snow, uncovering a person buried beneath. But the new snow probe from AvaTech can also help skiers prevent avalanches. It can register how avalanche-prone an area is.
God blesses people with creativity that can help them face terrifying circumstances. But avalanche experts will tell you: Skiers need to check forecasts and study avalanche risk reports. No techno gadget makes up for one of God’s greatest gifts to us: common sense.