santacruz skier
Angel Diva
Just wondered... I'm getting notifications of wind hold here and there at Palisades.
-
Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.
Inbounds Avalanche at Palisades Tahoe
- Thread starter Amie H
- Start date
marzNC
Angel Diva
I opted for a simpler model with fewer controls. It's the Tracker S from BCA. Here's a review:
Backcountry Access Tracker S Review
The Backcountry Access Tracker S is a slightly trimmed-down, less expensive option of the mega-popular Tracker3. It's built in the same low-profile casing...
www.outdoorgearlab.com
The advice from my instructor who teaches at Alta was ""Black Diamond Pro is the model used by patrol, the Recon X model is also good." He also said Berryvox and BCA were good. He was very clear that he doesn't like Ortovox. My primary ski buddy has an older BCA. The Tracker S is small and light, which appealed to me.
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I use the Black Diamond one (not sure of the model) only because it was a gift from my son.
I will also say that its all well and good wearing a transceiver/beacon but its even better if you know how to use them ie search.
Our local hill has a transceiver area at the top of the hill where you can practise, I also do a few practises pre season in our garden. Hubby hides his transceiver and I have to locate it and vice versa.
Candidly, the reason I feel that one shouldn't go out and buy a transceiver for the sole purpose of wearing one on resort storm days and without any training is because I feel that they may adversely affect the critical earlier stages of a search. I've no doubt that once patrol arrives, they will direct those wearing one to put it into search mode, but I can see a scenario where there is a burial and someone unfamiliar with the transceiver and searches keeps it on transmit when a search is underway.
snoWYmonkey
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Pequenita. That is a very valid and important point. The ability to switch to search is important. So is knowing when not to in case of hangfire, and where to stand in such a case. I would think the benefits outweigh that risk. Probably beingoverly y optimistic.
Honestly, I kind of hope that a person who doesn't know how to use the transceiver would just leave the scene, unless their partner is the one caught and they have visual cues. I'm inclined to think that at certain resorts - like PT, there is a high number of people who are regular backcountry skiers who would all be yelling out directions like "everyone switch to search!", but the night before a storm day a few years ago, I idly told someone I'd be skiing with that I'd be skiing with a beacon, and she literally went out and bought one a few hours later, and in the morning asked me to show her how to turn it on. I've got really mixed feelings about that.
Got an email from the teams director covering snow safety.. here’s the section on beacons (to your point)
Recently there has been an understandable increase in discussion surrounding the use of avalanche beacons. It is important to remember that beacons are not a preventative tool, and users should have the appropriate training/education surrounding their proper use. We have a broad program for snow safety education and awareness for coaches and athletes with a goal to educate as many team members as possible with age and ability appropriate curriculum, including: seminars offered during the season; supporting coach education, both required for certification and volunteer; and our deep snow safety training for coaches and messaging to athletes and parents. We will continue to create structure and opportunity appropriate to age groups for our team snow safety program.
Recently there has been an understandable increase in discussion surrounding the use of avalanche beacons. It is important to remember that beacons are not a preventative tool, and users should have the appropriate training/education surrounding their proper use. We have a broad program for snow safety education and awareness for coaches and athletes with a goal to educate as many team members as possible with age and ability appropriate curriculum, including: seminars offered during the season; supporting coach education, both required for certification and volunteer; and our deep snow safety training for coaches and messaging to athletes and parents. We will continue to create structure and opportunity appropriate to age groups for our team snow safety program.
Rainbow Jenny
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thanks for the list.
I did a companion rescue course (located near Sherwood chair of Alpine Meadows) with a SAR team 4 years ago and we practiced using RECCO detector, definitely takes some practice.
Mts High and Waterman are both located in the San Gabriel Mountains. Fatalities due to icy conditions (inbound) and avalanches (backcountry) have occurred. Here they are:
Skiing The Waterman Backcountry - SierraDescents
I admit I was at best marginally interested in heading to the San Gabriels this past weekend. There were any number of things that sounded like they'd be more fun. Riding my
www.sierradescents.com
A friend/mentor who patrolled at Waterman responded to his patroller partner in distress over the radio that day in 2008. We grieved together over the loss of our friends in the mountains that winter.
