We saw this online and couldn’t believe our eyes!  The Safety Officer among us had to write a blog on it.

http://unofficialnetworks.com/dangerous-piece-avalanche-safety-gear-world-snowbe-98574/

That is a link to an avalanche beacon that is different from all other avy beacons.  How you ask?  It does not receive.  It’s just a transmitter.

That might sound ok if you haven’t used one before, however, it’s missing one important option: the ability to receive the signal from the people in your group that get caught in an avalanche.  Imagine- a group of skiers go into the back country.  Everyone has their “Snow-Be” on and they’re all thinking, “Yay! We have avalanche beacons on.  Let’s go find some fresh powder.”  However, on your way to the mecca of pow, an avalanche wipes out half your group.  The remaining half thinks, don’t worry, we have our “Snow-Bes” on.  You pull out your shovel and probe and get ready to dig your suffocating friends out.  Oh damn.  I have no way of locating them.  Shoot.

Ok, we’ll admit, we laughed at it.  I mean, it’s pretty entertaining, unless your friends are in need of rescue and you don’t have the ability to find them.  We imagine this is going to be marketed for skiers that don’t go into the backcountry and just want a ‘piece of mind’ in case there is an in-bounds avalanche.  That is the only plausible use for this device.  However, you shouldn’t be skiing anywhere there is a chance of avalanche without going through an avalanche course and having the proper equipment (shovel, probe, and transceiver).  But that’s usually not necessary in-bounds.

We agree- it sounds like a way to take money from people uneducated about avalanches and could potentially encourage people to go into avalanche conditions woefully unprepared.

Be Safe- if you want to ski the backcountry, take a course, get quality gear, and go with people who are experienced.  It’s an awesome way to see the outdoors when done correctly!!

“Climb High, Fly Low” -RM