Carry that cell phone - in case of an avalanche

[ScaredSilly]

http://www.kirotv.com/news/23113628/detail.html?hpt=T2

 

 

[AlpineK]

Sure, carry a cell phone if you know you're going to get reception where you are going. Granite mountain next to I-90 would work, but there are lots of areas in the Cascades with no reception.

[JoshK]

Lucky guy. When i was reading the NWAC forecast yesterday I noticed they had a comment about the fact that there were a number of near miss disasters over the past week involving all the new snow. I think Spring hits and many people figure avalanche season is over, despite there being more new snow than there was at any point during the winter. Things are probably a bit more consolidated now, but until we get a prolonged Spring warm up there are still lots of dangers out there.

 

 

From NWAC:

"Finally, way too many people have skirted disaster and relied on luck for surviving accident involvements over the past week. Relying on luck is anything but reliable in avalanche terrain, and backcountry travelers should use extra caution, cautious routefinding and conservative decision making until the recent deep snows are able to consolidate and stabilize further"

[Gary_Yngve]

Unbelievably lucky that

(1) he was able to make a call while buried

(2) he was able to survive for the several hours it took SAR to find him

(3) SAR was able to find him, given that he didn't have a beacon

[AlpineK]

NWAC runs out of money in the spring, but according to statistics I've seen there are a lot of avy fatalists then.

 

New snow + warm weather + south facing slope = bad

[JoshK]

Yeah I think they have another few days of reports then it goes in to the "spring avalanche season" where they ony report if really serious conditions develop. Time of day is a huge factor this time of year too. When in doubt, travel over anything setchy in the morning, or not at all. Afternoon warming + endlessly deep glop = bad, mmmkay.

[Gym Wickedwire]

Carrying a cell phone in the backcountry is a good idea, but it's really not that effective in avy scenarios unless you are wearing your bluetooth headset. Victims who were wearing bluetooths when a burial occurred where able to dial for help 43% more often than those using conventional cell phones.

[JoshK]

Carrying a cell phone in the backcountry is a good idea, but it's really not that effective in avy scenarios unless you are wearing your bluetooth headset. Victims who were wearing bluetooths when a burial occurred where able to dial for help 43% more often than those using conventional cell phones.

 

LOL! What about bluetooth headset, attached to a sat phone? If I combine that with my avalung, scuba setup and avy air-bag I can stop worrying altogether!

[AlpineK]

If he didn't have enough space to use his hand cell phone he wouldn't have had enough oxygen to survive 3 to 4 hour under the snow like he did.

 

Perhaps Gym would like to tell us a story about a incredible climbing adventure he survived thanks to his bluetooth cell phone.

[Displaced Native]

Did an avy I course a couple of months ago...turns out the Iphone sets off digital receivers like the Tracker II. Cool if you're buried and the search party is running digital receivers...pisser if you're a searcher, switched over to "search" mode and your team mates keeping "finding" you instead of the victim.

 

Moral? Turn off your cell phone when in search mode..just one more thing to remember and do when things really go sideways

 

steve

[ConorB]

story of a skiier at crystal mt. cell saved his life. interesting accident report

 

http://www.skicrystal.com/News/927/Avalanche-Survival-Story

[catbirdseat]

Good thing he had the cell after he went back out without helmet, transceiver and jacket!

[rob]

yeah, he definitely should have remembered his transceiver, it would have come in really handy skiing alone.

Edited April 13, 2010 by rob

[tanstaafl]

Actually, a very good reason to wear a transceiver if you're out alone is that they do come in handy for the people who end up looking for you.

[Hugh Conway]

Actually, a very good reason to wear a transceiver if you're out alone is that they do come in handy for the people who end up looking for you.

 

or other people who fuck up - I've used a transceiver skiing solo to search for someone else

 

Some Recco decals (or diodes in cellphone/beacon/etc) are a nice corpse recovery addition.

[jhamaker]

Aahhh. Spring avy shedding in Joffre (and the rest of the Cascades/Coast Range) last wk-end. Lots of climax slides.

[Dannible]

Yep, I'd say Friday was the first hot day in the Stuart range since the big early April dumps. Pretty dramatic up there.