anyone considering buying an airbag pack?

With the recent avalanche deaths, and the press about Elyse Saugstad being saved by her airbag pack,  www.king5.com/home/Avalanche-survivor-ta...-life-139769853.html , I’ve gotten a bit of encouragement from my wife to consider buying an airbag pack.

However I just read this article in the Denver Post about another recent avalanche victim that was not saved by his air bag www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_20000697?source=commented- . The article is pretty critical of the airbag packs real value in an avalanche.

I’m wondering what other folks think? Has the recent avalanche deaths made you consider buying an air bag? Or not? Just curious.

- and always remember to have understood the current av. advisory before you click into your skis, or split !!

There is an ever growing body of evidence and statistics that they can help survival in an avalanche.
They have been used in Europe far longer than the US and there is great info on the web other than those two particular articles.

They may not be as effective in the treed terrain we have in WA ( some argue) but there is not doubt that on big faces and bowls they have saved many lives to date.

I bought one two years ago...I'll be wearing it more now despite the weight.
Two of my friends bought one each in the last month.

See this real life experience and video from Haines, AK

Video here.
vimeo.com/22250873

Write up here.
www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.p...ency-Gear?highlight=

Here's what he wrote for those that don't want to click the link

Avalanche "science" is an imprecise science at best. There are no axioms or accurate formulas such as exist in physics or chemistry. Sometimes you can do everything right but things still go wrong and this is why we still all carry rescue gear, even the most experienced or trained amongst us. On a sunny day in Alaska, I learned that lesson well. Pits were dug (by a professional guide) with good results, similar aspects skied and I wasn't even first down the slope when a 500ft wide, 20-30 cm deep crown broke above me and carried me 2000ft down a steep slope at high speed.

It is here, before the need for rescue gear (shovel, beacon probe), where our preventative measures and gear come into place. I cut hard 45 degrees after seeing the cracks. Mistaking a breaking bit of slab for the edge of the slide, I actually though I would make it just before the rug was pulled out from under me. Lucky for me, I don't use pole straps (another preventative measure) so the only violent tugging came from my skis, which quickly broke off (literally) despite 14 din settings.

Now was the time to engage the emergency gear. I was wearing a BCA airbag pack (Float 30) but had never even practice-pulled the cord. Indeed, this was only the second day I ever wore it, finding it difficult to find a place to fill it in Japan. With snow being pushed down my throat, I prioritized the avalung, which went in with ease and refocused on pulling the cord. I was being violently tumbled and quickly sank when I started to use my arms to place the lung and pull the cord but the second it was pulled I could feel myself float to the surface and the tumbling slowed. By the end, the bag had my floating on my back, with my feet down slope, not dissimilar to canyoning.

The runnout was wide and open so I doubt I would have been buried in the end but the equipment served a function nonetheless. The avalung allowed me to breathe rather than choke while tumbling, a big plus when I went to work on my airbag. The airbag changed the washing machine tumble into a gentler slide and kept me much closer to the surface (there was some pepper on the slope so close to the surface was a better place to be, even if it was going to spread out in the runnout). Finally, perhaps the most important piece of emergency equipment was the helmet. I did not bang my head but it was possible. More importantly in this case, it kept my goggles in place and made it much easier to see the avalung, ripcord and which way was up. If you are going to wear emergency preventative equipment, methinks a helmet should top the list.

I never want to go through that experience again so avoidance of avi prone terrain remains the best policy but at least I now know that if I do, I can keep my wits enough to use the emergency equipment. I hope this post and video reminds others that avalanche risk can never truly be eliminated so always be prepared to deal with the consequences.


In a more recent post he explained exactly what was going on and how he coped.
Quote/
Last April I was carried top to bottom in Alaska in a medium sized slide, which I documented here.

What I wrote does cover some of the issues addressed in the thread. I would like to emphasize a few points as well as perhaps add a few as there are opinions in this thread that do not match my one experience.

Firstly, ditching my equipment was not optional. As I said, I don't use pole straps and one ski was ripped off my foot in the first moments. The second ski's lack of release became my most imminent problem. The snow pulled HARD on the ski and only by pulling in my leg with maximum force did it release (by breaking), which immediately relieved the forces that would have likely caused serious injury had they persisted. There is a good account of a pro snowboarder caught in a slide in Japan and, after one foot broke free, the avi ripped apart his pelvis via his attached foot.

While I did insert my avalung before pulling my airbag, this wasn't the order I attempted. After my ski released, I went for my ripcord but, having never practiced with it (it was my second day with the bag) I fumbled it while snow was being pushed down my throat. Having trouble breathing, I decided to insert my avalung first (on which I have much practice), which allowed me to breath. I then made a more concerted effort at the cord, looking down at it and yanking it with both hands and it inflated.

Once inflated, I felt the pack straps pull me up, as if I was being lifted by my armpits and the violent tumbling abated. My experience was that it put my feet downhill, as though I were canyoning, but it could be because I did pull it later in the slide, when things may have been slowing down. I do not know.

I don't know what other people experienced but I did not experience panic. It was very easy for me to consciously decide what to do. Once I knew what was happening, I made the decision to cut right 45 degrees, when I fell I made the decision to bring my knee in and pull against the ski, I made the conscious decision to pull my cord and, when that failed and I was choking, I thought that my avalung may help so I went for it. I then worked the ripcord with all my effort./ End Quote

The recent avalanche fatalities of people with eerily similar profiles to my own certainly have my wife/parents asking if I'd be interested in one.

The recent avalanche fatalities of people with eerily similar profiles to my own certainly have my wife/parents asking if I'd be interested in one.

My mother, who lives back East, saw the Stevens tragedy on the national news.  She called me at 6:30AM as I was making my way to Rainier.  After 10-minutes of reassuring her that I would be extremely safe, she finished the conversation by saying, "I'm going to buy you one of those parachutes."  My mom is always getting the details wrong, but she's pretty good and nailing the big picture.

I’m wondering what other folks think? Has the recent avalanche deaths made you consider buying an air bag? Or not? Just curious.

No, and yes.
No, recent avalanche deaths has not influenced a decision.
Yes, I do plan to purchase.

This is something that I have been considering for a while, what has held me back is emerging technology/models from different manufactures that seem to be improving the category in general. I'm currently looking at and liking the Mammut product for a number of reasons, including size/volume, ski carry and the fact that the ABS system can be removed from the pack.