In recent years, thanks to the ultralight backpacking scene, we have many high-performance, lightweight fabrics to choose from. But keeping up with R&D trends and off-the-shelf lightweight fabric options is dizzying. We’ll run through some of the main fabrics currently in play and get thoughts from pack makers Gavin Hess from Apocalypse Equipment (and THR) and Matt Zia from Otterbody Threadworks.
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Some people cringe at the thought of oversight, others exhale with relief. Considering the gear we rely on for safe mountain travel, oversight is often a good thing. Climbers, mountaineers, and alpinists are likely familiar with the UIAA stamp of approval on much of their gear. The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, or UIAA, helps set safety standards for equipment like climbing ropes, harnesses, and helmets. Recently, they adopted safety standards for avalanche rescue probes and shovels. In the future, expect the UIAA to establish standards for avalanche transceivers too.
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At the recently concluded International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW), a paper presented by an Italian group titled “Dig Close, Dig Fast. A Study on the Consequences of Excavation Start Point Choice in Avalanche Companion Rescue,” explores the efficacy of some well-accepted practices relating to removing snow effectively, accessing a victim, and exposing their airway.
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Real-world use of an ATES, can come into play when exploring unfamiliar terrain.
A great and free resource, (although it must cost Avalanche Canada money to produce and host), is their trip planner. Load the planner, and scroll and zoom on the Whistler zone to view specific terrain overlaid with ATES descriptions. The map provided is suitable for a first-step analysis: it is 2D, and once zoomed in sufficiently, populates with topo lines and even a track, for example, of the Spearhead Traverse. I can begin to analyze what type of avalanche exposure I can expect on the traverse.
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Bucking the trend towards simpler is better, the Swiss expand their avalanche danger scale by adding sub-levels.
After five years of internal use and a season of limited public use in 2022-2023, the Swiss Avalanche Warning Service will add sublevels to their avalanche forecast this season. Yes, they are adding complexity, which seems to be bucking the trend. In Europe generally, including Switzerland, forecasters use five discrete levels to define the avalanche danger level.
This season, instead of a straight 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the danger levels will include 1, 2-, 2=, 2+, 3-, 3=, 3+, and 4-.
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