Pro ans cons of carrying your avy stuff inbounds

[Jer]

...at least on days when there's been a lot of new snow/wind.

Here's what I've found thusfar:

Pro:

1) shovel blade in pack is a great spine protector.
2) avalungs can do double-duty as face-shot snorkles.
3) life is preferrable to death.

Con:

1) some bro who's been sitting on his ass in the GMD all morning may give you shit about wearing an Avalung.

edit: meant to type "and" instead of "ans".

[Ted Striker]

You forgot a "pro". If there's a slide, it's better to be able to participate in the search effort than to stand around with your thumb up your ass.

edit: I had to dig this up...
THIS "HALL OF FAME" THREAD SHOULD BE READ BY ALL MAGGOTS. JONGS TOO. ACTUALLY... ESPECIALLY JONGS!

edit again: I just re-read that thread and I forgot what a shitshow it turned into. You can pretty much skip the middle pages, but there's a message from the victim on the last page that's worth reading. The important thing to realize is that even though the avi victim was out of bounds (just barely beyond the rope though) there have been plenty of inbounds slides that have claimed lives.

[vtdownhiller]

This topic gets beaten to death every year....wear your peep at all times, it's really no big deal, if you wear a pack, bring it all....enough said

[Jer]

This topic gets beaten to death every year

It should get beaten to death every year. Batteries are really cheap. A beacon weighs 1/2 a pound.

[Eluder]

It needs to beaten to death and taken more seriously. Unless your riding the tow ropes of the midwest of course. the cost thing gets thrown out there way to much, suck it up ride last years skis and get the gear. I am poor as shit and have one for myself and an extra for my ignorant or fresh in town friends.

[stevenc]

This year i have decided to wear a beacon inbounds whenever there is new snow and i am skiing off pist. If i am just having a park day i wont wear it. Now for the rest of me gear i am undecided, if i think i have the chance of going out of bounds i will, but if not i will probably just stick to my beacon.

[Ted Striker]

Now for the rest of me gear i am undecided, if i think i have the chance of going out of bounds i will, but if not i will probably just stick to my beacon.

Not trying to beat you up here, but that doesn't really make sense.

If you were buried and I was second on scene, you'd damn well want me to have my probe and shovel with me, right? Well, likewise.

[summit]

It's a personal choice.

If you own a beacon, not wearing it is stupid because there are not cons to wearing it and no pros to not wearing it.

Carrying a pack, shovel, and probe are not always comfy for people. I take mine one days where i think there is even a possibility of me exiting the ski area.

[~mikey b]

I always wear a beacon and carry a shovel and probe in an Avalung pack inbounds on powder days. I feel weird without them. Same goes for helmet and kneepads. I'm sorta superstitious or OCD or something I guess...

[Beotch]

Read http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...d.php?t=143746

Read again http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...d.php?t=143746

[Bcar]

I used to take my kit most of the time, but after this weekends events, im ALWAYS going to be taking it unless I know im only going to be on groomers teaching someone or something. There are not any good reasons to NOT take your full kit... 10lbs (guess??) is not that much!

try the Arc'teryx yo-yo pack, I love mine, super minimal for resort/side country days.

[Buster Highmen]

Con:

1) some bro who's been sitting on his ass in the GMD all morning may give you shit about wearing an Avalung.

Huh? I thought you'd think that a "pro".

Tell him that it makes it easier to receive blowjobs.

[1000-oaks]

Like they say in the Army, "train the way you want to fight", so you'll be ready. If you train half-ass, you'll fight (or handle an avi) half-ass.

BD Covert 22 pack does a great job of hiding the Avalung, shovel and probe while in-bounds. Only other's in-the-know will notice.

[vtdownhiller]

I have the Covert 22,good advice, worth the dough if you are looking at packs...

Like they say in the Army, "train the way you want to fight", so you'll be ready. If you train half-ass, you'll fight (or handle an avi) half-ass.

BD Covert 22 pack does a great job of hiding the Avalung, shovel and probe while in-bounds. Only other's in-the-know will notice.

[F.D.V.]

You wont ever find me at Wolf Creek without my beacon...

Double meaning much?

[Jer]

Just weighed my Avalung/beacon/shovel/probe - 3.5 lbs. That's pretty light. Lighter than I thought.

CPR classes are virtually weightless.

[capitalJ]

It can't hurt anything to carry your gear, make sure you know how to use it too. Snowbird has a beacon park set up by the parking garage in entry 4 and beacons buried around the mountain for practice. Just ask the patrollers where they are and they'll tell you where to look.

[fallguy]

life link shovel, folding probe, life link poles that doubles as probe for someone without, and a life link sling blade. the sling blade is a sholder harness for the shovel and my probe folds and attaches to the shovel handle. weight is like 2lbs tops. i highly recommend this setup for light, easy inbounds and side-country trips

[AsheanMT]

Big Mtn also has a beacon park (not set up yet this year but will very soon). I keep my Avalung pack always ready and take it with me when I head out the door. If I'm just gonna spend the day with the kid or mom giving ski lessons I don't bother but otherwise I just throw my pack on. I catch shit for it from some people who think that I'm trying to act "core". That is very unfortunate IMO being that most of the descent skiers at our mountain all go OB. Of the two people that died last year in a slide one of them had an avi setup but had left it at home for the day and the other was a 17 yo kid that had no avi safety training or gear whatsoever(he was the trigger).

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

This topic gets beaten to death every year....

As well it should be

[nesta]

I am so used to wearing my beacon, it's like putting on my boots. If you have one, why wouldn't you always wear it? If you don't have one, can't afford one, and always ski inbounds, might as well invest in some Recco reflectors at least. I think ski areas who advertise the Recco system should include a pair of reflectors with every season pass, and should advise day ticket purchasers where to buy them ( ie their ski shop)
If you are buried inbounds, the scuff search and the transceiver hasty search are your best bets for a positive outcome. Even in a ski area, you might not make it if it the dogs are needed to locate you.

[LeeLau]

nesta - what are thoughts among patrollers about putting on reccos on skis. That seems like a good idea but I also thought that perhaps reccos should be reserved for finding bodies.

[nesta]

they generally would not approve of this practice- it's kind of like the situation of what to equip your dog with, and the fact that you don't want to dig up yours or your buddy's dog instead of a human. Even worse for a pair of skis. So I would say some sort of device that's separate from either Recco or 457kHz if you're that intent on finding your skis.
That said, some avalauncher rounds were, and maybe still are, manufactured with a Recco reflector imbedded in the explosive for ease in locating misfires after the season. Not a problem for the rounds that explode, nothing left of reflector. But I have a problem with the ones that are duds, and then may be carried further downslope by subsequent avalanches in the slidepath. Reason being that if there is an involvement in that same area during the same season, we might be locating a misfire instead of a body, and possibly even probing that misfire or wasting valuable time probing for a confirmed signal. But that may be as likely as attending a search site where Recco reflectors have been dropped or otherwise littered- we were doing a practice a couple of seasons ago and the patroller operating the Recco claimed he had a signal, even though I had accounted for all the Recco reflectors put out on probe targets. He was adamant about the signal from a certain area, of course he probed nothing, but decided to dig down about 2 m, and lo and behold found an old beat up reflector imbedded in the frozen ground!

[khyber.pass]

So I would say some sort of device that's separate from either Recco or 457kHz if you're that intent on finding your skis.

Recommendations? Besides surveyor's tape, that is, or using a metal detector.

[Lonnie]

He was adamant about the signal from a certain area, of course he probed nothing, but decided to dig down about 2 m, and lo and behold found an old beat up reflector imbedded in the frozen ground!

Damn. Impressive.