Avalanche and Ice-Through snowmobile rescue device

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Avalanche and Ice-through snowmobile rescue device.

We have been working for a few years on an inflatable device housed inside of a snowmobile seat, that when inflated could float the submerged snowmobile to the surface of a lake, a river, or an avalanche.

If the sled breaks through the ice the device can support the submerged machine (tethered less than a meter below the waterline), and two riders above the water.

We have also put this same system in a series of class 2 avalanches where it floated the snowmobile to the surface of the snow. The purpose of floating a snowmobile in an avalanche is to first stop the machine from spinning and cartwheeling inside the slide and causing blunt force trauma to the rider, and secondly to bring the machine to the surface where it may be used to get out of the mountains. In our testing in Nevada, snowmobiles attached to avalanche air bags traveled in a straight line down the mountain (either leading or being led by the air bag), and did not spin or cartwheel. Having your machine ride down the mountain on top of the avalanche also causes less damage to the skis and handle bars than if your sled were under the avalanche being repeatedly slammed into the mountain.

Experts in the industry tell us that mountain riders would never use such a system due to the added weight of about 15 pounds (or 7 kilograms).

Our question to you is:

Would you consider riding with a snowmobile that had an avalanche flotation system built into the machine, but added this extra weight to your sled?

Here are some pics from a test in the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minnesota……..

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Many sled necks are surprised when they find out the local dive team is not going to get their sled out of the lake for free... if at all... if they could find it. Sometimes the sledder goes under to.

I spent a night searching the ice and swimming between ice flows of a lake and the next day running sonar and cameras and supporting divers. We found him.

The man was nowmobiling on the frozen lake, most of it was solid, but he forgot where he was and ended up in the part of the lake that was open. The sled went in and he drowned.

This type of thing doesn't usually affect me, but this did: I'll always remember his crying fiance on the shore screaming through her tears to the lake "WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!? WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!?"