Heli-based avi rescue system debut dec. 7th @ snowbird

**Jer** · 12-09-2006, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by Jer

I really don't see any breathless bullshit in that article - they even state that partner rescues are faster. I can't see how the heli search would help in most scenarios, but I'm not gonna automatically condemn it because an evil helicopter is involved.

None at all?

"Helicopters are essential in avalanche rescues."

I'm not gonna condemn it either. I'm not even gonna condemn helicopters.
I don't automatically condemn anyone or anything. That would be too Godlike.

**summit** · 12-09-2006, 06:29 PM

Helicopters are a vital part of organized avalanche rescue.

**Hacksaw** · 12-09-2006, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by David Witherspoon

I don't automatically condemn anyone or anything. That would be too Godlike.

LMAOROF

**Trackhead** · 12-10-2006, 11:11 PM

All you wankers need to do is call me with your GPS waypoints, and I'll send my drone out hasty like. It flies at 80mph full GPS guided. It can fly in inclement weather, because it doesn't need retina's or an optic nerve.

**summit** · 12-10-2006, 11:28 PM

Is that the SkyNet insignia on the side?

Seriously... can I have one of those?

**Hacksaw** · 12-11-2006, 12:01 AM

I think I'll start to carry my RC helicopter, just to piss off all thos anti-heli folks when I go ski touring.......

**cololi** · 12-11-2006, 05:26 PM

Wow, there are a lot of misconceptions about this thing. It is essentially a beacon. it does not use the recco system. The people in the bird turn their beacons off (yes, the lifelight crews were beacons when they go into the mountains in winter). The response time for the bird is quick. The longest it would take a ship to get anywhere in the wasatch is about 15 minutes. The time is cut down dramatically when the ships are stationed outside of their home hospital. WPG is almost always within 5 minutes of anywhere in the central wasatch. The pilots will guide the ship to within 10 meters, which would drarmatically reduce the search time for the touring party. There are no gaurantees that any sort of organized search will get to the site in a livable amount of time for a buried victim. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when the helicopter starts to hover in one place, it has gotten as close as it can.

This is not a tool to keep people from relaxing their backcountry travel skills. It is a rescue tool. That is all. It may save lives, it may not, but it certainly is a good arrow to have in your quiver.

**Phatstix** · 01-05-2007, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by cololi

Wow, there are a lot of misconceptions about this thing. It is essentially a beacon. it does not use the recco system. The people in the bird turn their beacons off (yes, the lifelight crews were beacons when they go into the mountains in winter). The response time for the bird is quick. The longest it would take a ship to get anywhere in the wasatch is about 15 minutes. The time is cut down dramatically when the ships are stationed outside of their home hospital. WPG is almost always within 5 minutes of anywhere in the central wasatch. The pilots will guide the ship to within 10 meters, which would drarmatically reduce the search time for the touring party. There are no gaurantees that any sort of organized search will get to the site in a livable amount of time for a buried victim. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when the helicopter starts to hover in one place, it has gotten as close as it can.

This is not a tool to keep people from relaxing their backcountry travel skills. It is a rescue tool. That is all. It may save lives, it may not, but it certainly is a good arrow to have in your quiver.

Nicely put.