The shovel blade portion of the UIAA certified Mammut Alligator Light.
We take a look at the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) published safety standards for “avalanche rescue shovels.”
We could, but we won’t shovel a heap full of BS your way and tell you any shovel is a worthy avalanche shovel in a rescue scenario. It’s one thing to have a tool worthy enough to shovel a dainty amount of snow into the WindBurner for the night’s tea, and a whole different dimension regarding a shovel used as an active rescue tool. There’s no cutting corners when digging a partner out.
In 2018, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) published safety standards for “avalanche rescue shovels.” You might know the UIAA and their stamp of approval on climbing/mountaineering gear. (We wrote about the UIAA and avalanche transceivers last month.) Many look to the UIAA as a benchmark regarding safety standards for best practices and gear design.
I’ve vacillated over the years like many of us—I’ve often sought lighter, yet functional, avalanche rescue shovels to carry in the backcountry. Part of me wants to claim I owned and used a polycarbonate blade (a thermoplastic) LifeLink shovel during my Missoula days. I cannot confirm this as it’s so long ago. In the past decade, I’ve opted for a Black Diamond T3 shovel (purchased in ~2016) and now use a UIAA 156 certified Mammut Alugator Light shovel. (The T3 looks like it should pass the UIAA length and shovel blade standards.)
And in the basement, tucked away so as not to tempt me, is a crafty little shovel called the Camp Crest shovel (it’s discontinued) featuring a canary yellow polypropylene blade and a short, non-extendable shaft; it shares more DNA with the type of shovel my kids built sand castles with than a tool I could ever effectively use in a real deal rescue scenario. (Honestly, this tool is underpowered even when I’m only feeding the WindBurner ice chunks mined from a refrozen bivy-scape.) Basically, it’s light, was designed for skimo racers, and is a rough approximation of a rescue shovel.
The yellow shovel, a Camp Crest, is discontinued. It was designed as a skimo race shovel (certified by ISMF at the time). The blue blade is a BD T3 shovel made pre 2018 UIAA published standards. While the black shovel is a Mammut Alugator light—it meets UIAA standards.
Anyhow, on the marketplace, we have lots of options when it comes to avalanche rescue shovels. The UIAA has set some standards when it comes to a rescue shovel receiving their seal of approval.
You can find the full UIAA avalanche rescue shovel guidelines here. Otherwise, here are some UIAA approved design feature standards.
- The blade should be able to penetrate and cut the snowpack. I’ve seen lighter/thinner aluminum blades struggle to penetrate dense/compacted snow. And the UIAA standards include strength and stiffness parameters. The document linked above includes the tests a shovel must pass to meet the UIAA standards.
- The above standards and tests help ensure the parts won’t shear or break under normal rescue conditions.
- The tool should avoid incorporating sharp edges or parts that could cut a potential victim.
- Shovel length is greater than 75cm.
- Blade surface area is greater than 500cm2
UIAA visual digram of the basic design benchmarks for an avalanche rescue shovel to meet UIAA standards.
UIAA diagram for the reverse bending test.
Below is not a shovel comparison; it is to let you know that all the major avalanche safety equipment companies sell UIAA certified shovels. If you have a specific brand loyalty, you’ll be set.
Black Diamond Equipment: BD Transfer LT Shovel has received high praise from THR’s Adam Fabrikant, Gavin Hess, and Billy Haas. For something bigger from BD, they offer the Evac 7 or Evac 9
Mammut: They offer some compelling options in the Alugator Light and the Alugator Pro Light Hoe.
Ortovox: Their Shovel Pro Light and the Kodiak look nice.
BCA: Their BCA DOZER™ 1T-UL shovel, which I had my hands on last year, is sweet, while their BCA DOZER™ 2H shovel offers a hoe mode and is a bit more robust.
ARVA: Plume TS
