The solo snowboarder deserved a Darwin Award. All day the new snow was screaming “INSTABILITY”. The Award nominee didn’t notice the whoomphing and recent avalanches. He ripped straight off the summit of Hatch Peak, but somehow the entire face didn’t avalanche. Still going for the Award – Award nominees must remove themselves from the gene pool, by death or sterilization – he continued riding and dropped over a second steep face below us. My wife, Cathy, and I watched aghast from the face’s perimeter. An avalanche fracture line split the convex rollover and flushed the boarder out of sight. We raced around to view the base of the face. We saw the boarder exiting a massive debris pile, skootching toward a creek gully, the mother of all terrain traps and a definite Darwin Award. I caught him just as he was tipping into the gully. “What are you doing? Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“Yeah, pretty bad.” He smiled. “I have a beacon, shovel, and probe.” I’d noticed. He looked like a new gear shop employee, amped on his pro-deal and equipped like a Christmas tree with his beacon strapped outside his jacket, shovel and probe Velcroed to the outside of his crispy pack. I wanted to say; does your gear deflect avalanches? But I restrained and said, “Follow me kid,” and led him to the parking lot.

Carrying gear – beacon, shovel, probe – for avalanche companion rescue doesn’t make you safer. The gear actually decreases our safety by giving us a false sense of security. We’re more likely to jump on a dangerous slope if we have the gear. By carrying the gear and practicing companion rescue twice a year, we can maintain a higher level of safety.

A beacon, shovel and probe are the basic essentials for companion rescue. Also essential are first aid skills and emergency shelter know-how. These days, many argue that Avalungs and airbags should also be on the essentials list. Here’s the skinny:

Beacon
Avalanche beacons are the first essential piece of gear for avalanche companion rescue. (Understand we’re rescuing companions, not avalanches). Beacons (aka transceivers) are PBJ-sized radios that, when turned on, send a signal from each backcountry skier/boarder. When an avalanche buries a victim, their partners can switch their beacons to receive and locate the victim. Popular brands are made by Ortovox, Mammut, Pieps and Backcountry Access. By practicing several times a year, it is possible to find a buried victim within several minutes. I recommend the Backcountry Access Tracker 2 beacon for its streamlined simplicity. If you don’t practice twice a year the beacon is for body recovery.

Probe
Probes are the second essential companion rescue item. A probe is used to pinpoint the victim after the beacon search is completed. Before digging, the rescuer's probe is used to find the victim’s exact location. This process drastically reduces digging time. Since most live recoveries are from burials less than two meters, the probe you carry must be three meters in length. Shovel handle probes are not sufficient. I prefer super light carbon fiber probes, but they are easily broken. And understand this about probing: finding and poking your buried friend will be the best feeling of their life.

Shovel
Avalanche debris sets up like concrete. Digging a victim out is the most time-consuming portion of avalanche rescue. You want a good shovel that is metal – plastic shovels are for the sand box. Recommended models include the BCA Companion Shovel, Voile Tele Pro, G3 Avitech and the BD Transfer. The Shovel Rule: if your partner shows up with a plastic shovel, give them your extra metal shovel you keep in the trunk.

Other Essential Companion Rescue Gear
Avalanche victims often need first aid and warmth to survive after they’ve been dug up. You’ll need first aid knowledge to check and stabilize their spine, give CPR, splint bones and treat for shock and hypothermia. First aid kits help, but knowledge is better. Take a Wilderness First Responder course.

Since full-burial live recoveries are usually short duration, hypothermia is not immediately an issue. (Half of full-burial victims not killed by trauma are dead after 25 minutes of burial time.) Hypothermia quickly becomes an issue after the victim is dug up. Always carry a puffy jacket and a tarp for shelter. Popular tarp models include the Guides Siltarp2 by Integral Designs and the Brooks Range Guide Tarp. If nothing else, get a space blanket.

Other Non-Essential Companion Rescue Gear
Many claim the Avalung made by Black Diamond is essential. Avalungs allow buried avalanche victims to breath longer. Avalungs have a snorkel tube for breathing oxygen in from your front and expelling carbon dioxide to your back. Avalungs are sold alone or incorporated into BDs Avalung packs.

Airbags are the latest avalanche survival phenomena. Incorporated into backpacks made by ABS, Snowpulse, and Backcountry Access, airbags have a ripcord that fires a gas canister that inflates a balloon and floats the victim to the surface. Since most recreational backcountry users don’t practice with beacons, avoiding burial means avoiding death. Recent statistics show that airbags work better than beacons, shovels and probes combined. But if you really want to avoid the Darwin Award, get all the gear and practice.

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