Avalanche danger has been at its highest levels in decades, and it seems every week we get a sad reminder of the inherent danger of backcountry skiing. During a recent tragedy just outside Telluride, a skier was equipped with and deployed an avalanche airbag, though it didn’t save his life. His body was recovered under four feet of snow after he’d tumbled several hundred feet through trees and over rocks. Another sad story this season.

The last few years the avalanche airbag has been hailed as a major step forward in backcountry safety, and we’ve even seen videos of its successful use. They were popular in Europe for much longer, nearly 25 years. They’re most successful in open areas free from trees, though nothing will help in a cataclysmic avalanche. Looking back on European data that includes times people have failed to inflate their airbags, in 100 avalanches the airbags saved people three times. That might sound bad, but we should take advantage of every opportunity we have to be safe. I’m sure those three people who survived thanks to their airbag sing its praises every chance they get. However flawed the 3-in-100 stats might be, it serves as a strong reminder that we can’t rely too much on equipment.

Tags: avalanche

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 at 10:05 am and is filed under Skiing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.