After you pull the avi airbag trigger...a new game plan?
Historically it's been recommended that you drop your poles, kick off your skis and try to swim to stay as close to the surface as possible in a moving avalanche, maybe even to the side of the slide if you can somehow manage it. (good luck)
Was thinking maybe that advice needs some modification for airbag pack users, since theoretically the airbag will take care of the floating part for you. In open terrain swimming might still be good advice, but anywhere with trees it might be better to ball up as tight as possible and try to protect your head/neck with your arms to minimize blunt trauma, as if you just jumped out of a moving car. Tuck and roll.
The smaller you can make yourself the less chance you'll hit a tree or boulder, and much less likely to have an arm or leg ripped off your torso. Curling into the fetal position won't effect your buoyancy either, as your body still has the same weight per cubic foot of volume.
What say ye? Keep swimming? Or stay curled up tight until you sense the slide is coming to a halt, then make one strong move upward and try to make an air pocket in front of your mouth? (Assuming you're not already on top of the slide, you know which way is up, and your timing is fortunate.)
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What to do when caught? A Review:
The ultimate survival strategy is to not get caught in an avalanche. Since the dawn of skiing and forever more until we have escape rockets (or speed wings): ALWAYS TRY TO SKI OUT AT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE!
ONCE CAUGHT:
The old school method: YELL and ditch everything and try to swim as hard as possible. If you feel the avalanche slowing down, then protect your airway and stick up a hand.
The debate of the late 2000s was whether to swim or simply protect your airway. Statistical analysis certainly shows that those who are unburied quickly dead and unrevivable usually had airways full of snow or no air pocket. Respected avalanche researcher, instructor, patroller, and rescuer Dale Atkins discovered through research that:
1. Most avalanche victims reported inability to feel any progress from swimming
2. By the time people stopped their fruitless swimming because they felt the avalanche slow, it was already too late to make an air pocket.
Dale wrote about this and much more about the dynamnics of an avalanche in motion (and how it explains points 1 & 2) here: http://www.americanavalancheassociat...25_4_LoRes.pdf (Pages 9-11, my unrelated article is on Page 6)
Dale advocates: Protecting your airway as the number one priority:
1. Yell and grab your pack strap with one arm putting your elbow over your face.
2. Put your other arm up in the air.
3. Whitewater swim: feet downhill to protect your head and torso from obstacles.
When presenting this position at CSAW 2006, I asked Dale what about an Avalung user? He said that changes the game some.
With the advent of the Avalung, if you use it properly by skiing with it in, the airway issue is solved. Respected Alaskan guide Theo Meiners advocated using an avalung at all times and utilizing a multistep method of swimming depending where you are in the slide based on the dynamics described in Dale's article above.
http://www.fsavalanche.org/NAC/techP...eltMeiners.pdf
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While presenting this method at CSAW 2009, Theo pointed out that these methods were impossible if a victim was fighting to keep the snow out of their mouth and pointed out the importance of an Avalung. He was asked how best to practice these techniques. Theo replied, "swim a lot of Class V whitewater."
SO WHAT ABOUT THE AIRBAG USER?
This is an excellent question. I think that an airbag user should try to ski out like everyone else, yelling and pulling the airbag at the first hint of a slide. If caught, deploy the airbag if not done already, then use Dale's method because using Theo's methods are hard for the unpracticed even if you don't have the added complication of a ginormous airbag. The airbag will do the job of preventing burial and thus giving a surface clue; the victim should be focused on keeping their airway open, preserving an air pocket, and putting feet downhill for extra protection.
