Equipment

Avalanche Transreveiver

Anyone going off marked-pistes, and that includes skiers, snowboarders, walkers, climbers and snowshoers should wear an avalanche transceiver (beacon)and when riding in resort it is advisable to wear at least an inexpensive avalanche transmitter (doggy beacon) or Recco™.

Probes

Probes come in a variety of lengths, from around 220cm to 600cm and made from different material. For off-piste and backcountry touring, a 220cm or 240cm aluminium probe is the most suitable. Piste patrol generally favour steel probes as they will be conducting many organised probe searches that will wear out aluminium probes. Longer probes are generally used by piste patrols for probing deep avalanches for body recovery.

Shovels

An avalanche shovel needs to be light but strong enough to cut through blocks of ice and snow. It will take a single rescuer 10 minutes to dig out a skier buried 1 meter below the surface with a shovel. It would take more like 45 minutes with hands or skis. Choose a shovel with a proper handle, we have a preference for metal blades, nothing beats them for cutting through ice, although there are some very tough plastics such as those used with the Ortovox shovels. Keep the shovel in the car and it will also prove useful for clearing snow on the road.