"Last Tracks" in The Stranger

Much of it is in the heuristics. Sometimes my partners speak good sense to me, sometimes I do it for them. At times our abilities lead us onwards, but then I try to keep in mind the maxim:
Beacons are useless until after I am completely buried, and who would ever want that?

Rick compensation permeates behavior every day in every way. Any time you use a bit of equipment, how you use it is determined by your assessment of the risk involved.

When you drive your car to the ski hill, the speed you drive (comfortably) is regulated by issues like the ability of the brakes to stop in an emergency, or the capability of the tires to steer out of the way of an obstruction, or the effectiveness of an airbag to soften the effects of a collision.

On the slopes, the way you ski is affected by the confidence that you will be able to avoid injury (or worse) . Releasable bindings permit faster speeds ... wearing a helmet makes skiing a more challenging pitch seem less risky ... strapping on a parachute mitigates some of the risk of skiing off a gnarly cliff.

Most kinds of safety equipment lessens the risk of the associated behavior, unless the individual changes behavior patterns because of the presence of safety systems. Driving faster "uses up" some or all of the cushion of brakes, tires and airbags ... the same could be said for skiing.

The risk of death or injury is the sum (or product) of a whole series of factors. If the risk of dying in an avalanche is 20% (once you encounter one) and the risk of encountering one is 10% in a given situation, then it could be calculated that the risk of dying in those circumstances is .20 * .10 = .02 ... (ie, a death every fifty times you enter that situation)

You can decrease the risk of dying once caught by skiing with a buddy, and using beacons, shovels, probes and being well trained in their use. But, if at the same time, with all of that caution, you venture into more dangerous terrain, then you have burned up much (all) of the safety you may have accrued.

SS

I fully believe that people put too much stock in beacons.

I frequently ski without one.

I was trying to ignore this thread because I didn't want to take away from original topic more than I already have. But now I am too curious again - How many other people leave them at home? I'm not judging, just curious because I thought it was kind of a standard thing. I don't think I have refused to ski with someone because they didn't have one, (well maybe once or twice but there were other factors in addition), but I have skied with people who do refuse to ski with people without them. Usually the only time I have left mine is out of forgetfulness, it's a solo trip, or it's spring and things have been stable for a while.

I keep a beacon in my ski box so it always comes to the TH with me. I rarely leave it at the car but I do sometimes in the spring. I have even carried it on solo tours to aid in recovery should it become necessary. I would hate to inconvenience rescue workers or make my wife wait too long to replace me. I am sure she would prefer my body was buried before she started daddy shopping.

I have twice refused random skiers seeking to join me (our party) who did not have avi gear. Both times the conditions were prone to slide and we were headed for exposed terrain. I have had second thoughts about weather leaving them to their own devices was less considerate but we were not inclined to limit our tour to more conservative terrain. Both times I explained this to them and encouraged them to step it up.

I will admit that in moderate or low avi conditions I am prone to keeping my unit in my pack.

Everyone's risk tolerance is their own, of course, but I don't ski without one unless it's well into late spring/summer.  Even that's risk tolerance, I suppose.  If I found that folks in my party didn't have one during peak avy season, I either wouldn't want to ski with them or it would heavily weigh on the decisions for the day.  After I got over my surprise...

On preview -- it's very rare that, if I have my beacon WITH me, it's not on and beeping. Batteries are cheap and my memory is porous.