Tuesday, 22 December, the Valmorel ski patrol used a RECCO detector to locate an off-piste skier buried under 1.5 meters of snow. At about midday the English skier and her brother triggered a slab avalanche on the Col des Mottets. An avalanche about 20 meters wide and 300 meters long swept both down. The avalanche buried the brother to his waist and his sister deeper. Neither skier carried avalanche rescue beacons; however the woman had RECCO reflectors in her ski boots. The father used his mobile phone to call rescuers.

(The R9 in use searching an avalanche debris pile from the air.)

The first ski patrollers reached the site and started to search with a rescue bacon and a RECCO detector. The RECCO signal was quickly detected and pinpointed. Rescuers uncovered the woman after a 20 to 30 minute burial. Suffering from mild hypothermia the woman was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital in Moutiers where she is recovering. (via boardsportsource)

Don’t ever think that a Recco device replaces an avalanche beacon or transceiver in any way, but it does help in situations like the great example above.  Front of mountain use, where you get caught in unexpected conditions.  If ever in doubt, ride with a friend, and know your terrain/conditions.

It’s just hard to hate…

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Signal Snowboards takes us all for a tour through their factory.  See how a Signal snowboard is made.

(Since there’s only so much I can fit in the bags, I bring home lots of trending shots, from all the local brands, and people that have it going on.)
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Headed off to Munich for the gigantic ISPO trade fair, since we didn’t have enough trade shows so far.  This is always a great chance to see what’s going on in the Europ market, as so many strong brands have yet to make it to the US market. (more…)

While in Vegas for SIA, we headed out to the Transworld Snowboarding Reader Poll Awards, which is the chance the the athletes to be recognized by the magazine readers, for their continued progression on the hill.  This is a time where I (more…)