Intro:

Pre-season, as I was walking into the Anchorage REI store, I overheard a customer talking to two sales associates about airbag packs (the airbags were prominently displayed next to the main corridor when entering the store).  The part of the conversation that caught my attention went something like this: “Man, I’ve got to get an airbag this season.  My buddy has one, and last season whenever we went into sketchy terrain I was wishing I had one.”  I’ve been meaning to write this post since hearing that a few months ago.

This post is not anti-airbag: don’t misconstrue it as that.  It may seem anti-airbag, but it’s written this way because there are few other sources critically examining, rather than praising, avalanche airbags.  This post is about “risk homeostasis,” the single most important tool for travel in avalanche terrain, (arguably) better tools and methods for dealing with “sketchy” avalanche terrain, (arguably) wiser uses of your money, and making sure that (airbag or not) you’re carrying what you really need for an accident, emergency, or worst-case scenario in the backcountry.

For a couple seasons, years ago and shortly after the airbag technology was first released, I was someone who carried an airbag (the original BCA Float 32) on almost every outing (I did not carry one for late spring and early summer skiing).  What did it do for me?  In hindsight, it provided a false sense of security and “training weight.”  Or, maybe that “training weight” was actually weight that (rather than make me stronger) made me move slower, more prone to injury, and not carry things I might actually be more likely to need because even with that supposedly 32 liter pack there just wasn’t that much space and it was already heavy enough.

I still have an airbag pack (BD Saga 40 JetForce), but haven’t used it in a few seasons except for demonstrations at avalanche educations events.  The JetForce (electronic) airbags are even heavier than the compressed air cylinder packs but, if you’re going to need to deploy an airbag, why not have one that can be deployed multiple times?  Otherwise, as with the compressed air cylinder packs, you’re carrying around all that weight that can only be used once.  The multiple deployment capability of the JetForce style packs was a must for airbag demos at avalanche education events, because there was no way I was going to take the time and pay the money to have a cylinder re-filled after every such event (I got tired of doing that each season just to test the device for seasonal use).  The JetForce technology is also better for such educational purposes because it’s no big deal demonstrating how to use it, and then letting students have the chance to deploy it.  None of that is possible with a one-and-done cylinder pack, as the JetForce packs provide about half dozen deployments on a single charge.

Risk Homeostasis:

There are many reasons I no longer carry an airbag pack.  Let’s start with “risk homeostasis.”  Risk homeostasis (as it applies to avalanche airbags) basically means that for some, being equipped with an airbag gives them a false sense of security that promotes higher risk tolerance/acceptance than if they weren’t equipped with an airbag pack.  So, while the airbag is definitely safety enhancing technology the safety enhancements are negated by a willingness to accept a higher level of risk.

The Single Most Important Tool for Travel in Avalanche Terrain:

Let’s move on to the aforementioned “single most important tool for travel in avalanche terrain.”  That single most important tool is YOUR BRAIN AND ITS DECISION-MAKING APPARATUS.  Your brain is even more important than the “three essentials” for travel in avalanche terrain: beacon, shovel, and probe.  While some heretics go so far as to suggest that the three essentials of beacon, shovel, and probe is dogma; it’s dogma that I accept until only residual snow remains in the mountains, the transition to summer is complete, and I’ve traded skis for trail runners or hiking boots.  Plus, at least shovel and probe can serve other purposes than solely avalanche rescue.

It takes time to develop and hone your brain for backcountry travel in avalanche terrain.  Maybe the airbag is prudent while taking the time to sharpen your brain and develop your skills, but the airbag doesn’t do any of that work for you.  If your decision-making is affected by the risk homeostasis factor of having an airbag pack, being equipped with the airbag may actually be detrimental for the development and honing of your brain and its decision-making apparatus for safe backcountry travel in avalanche terrain.

Let me distill this down: if being equipped with an avalanche airbag pack is affecting your decision-making and causing you to accept higher levels of risk, you’re likely not developing your brain’s decision-making apparatus as effectively as you could without the airbag.  If the airbag is affecting your decision-making in this way, perhaps not having the airbag would allow for more thoughtful and intricate decision-making that in the long run may be better for your skill development in terms of safe backcountry travel in avalanche terrain.  After all, do you want to be reliant on an expensive manufactured device for your safety or your own natural hardware and the software you’ve developed for it (i.e. safe and prudent decision-making capabilities)?

(Arguably) Better Tools and More Effective Methods for Dealing with “Sketchy” Avalanche Terrain:

Why else do I no longer carry an airbag pack?  Because there are better tools and more effective methods for dealing with “sketchy” avalanche terrain than the “Hail Mary” of an avalanche airbag.  Some of these methods concern decision-making and “terrain management,” that may be ignored by the false sense of security an airbag can provide.  By this I mean really focusing on the subtleties of the terrain, and really working the terrain on both the ascent and descent, so as to mitigate danger (i.e. practicing the safest travel protocols, communicating effectively with your partners, slope-cutting, always being mindful of an escape plan for each slope in the event of an avalanche, always considering “what if,” etc.).

Besides that mentioned above, what are some of the better tools and more effective methods for dealing with sketchy avalanche terrain?  These days, I prefer to carry the weight of an airbag in the form of a rope and anchor material in order that I can effectively assess potentially dangerous avalanche terrain before committing to it.  A lightweight rope, like a Petzl RAD line or BD’s 6mm static line, allows one to enter potentially dangerous avalanche terrain with almost no risk (if used correctly).

I put the rope to use in this regard primarily two ways: to be belayed or to rappel onto a slope for stability assessment and snowpack evaluation.  To do this safely and effectively you (and a partner if belaying) need to be competent in regard to the mountaineering skills of locating and using a suitable anchor, and setting up the belay or rappel system correctly.  If you can do that, you can enter potentially dangerous avalanche slopes with an almost surefire backup.

Being belayed or rappelling onto a potentially dangerous slope allows you to do slope-cuts, stomp the F*CK out of it (subjecting the slope to much more force and stress than it would receive from skiing it), dig a handpit to assess near surface instabilities, or do a full-on snowpit with stability tests and stratigraphy analysis.  If the slope were to rip, and you’ve set up your belay or rappel system correctly, you’d be backed up with hardly any shock loading to the anchor and you wouldn’t really go anywhere (if done correctly: this can’t be over emphasized).  That said, if you’re expecting slopes to rip that would suggest conditions are dangerous and you simply shouldn’t be out skiing in avalanche terrain of consequence.

Plus, ropes are multipurpose tools that can be used for general climbing, belaying, rappelling, and rigging (for emergencies).

Another use for the rope is a backup when dropping cornices to assess slope stability, which brings us to our next “better tool and more effective method” I prefer over an airbag pack.  The method is cornice dropping and the tool is the “Backcountry Bomb.”  It cannot be over-emphasized that the Backcountry Bomb is capable of dropping school bus sized cornices that can trigger large avalanches, which could endanger other backcountry travelers in the area.  Using this tool safely and effectively requires prudence and diligence for your own safety, and the safety of others.  MAKE SURE NO ONE IS BELOW YOU OR IN ANY POTENTIAL RUNOUT/PATH of an avalanche you might trigger, or the cornice fall debris itself.

The rope comes in handy because, while the Backcountry Bomb technology allows one to drop a cornice RELATIVELY SAFELY (if used correctly) with no backup (like an anchored rope), preparing a large cornice for dropping still requires some exposure to cornice fall.  A cornice fall itself is dangerous, but it could also trigger (as mentioned above) an avalanche that adds considerably to the danger.  Once a slope is “bombed” (properly and with a sufficiently sized cornice) it’s either going to avalanche and leave a relatively stable bed surface to ski, or the slope will not avalanche and can be determined to be relatively stable for skiing (as a skier is not likely to subject the slope to as much stress as the cornice fall it already withstood without avalanching).

This brings us to the last “better tool and more effective method” for traveling in avalanche terrain (than an airbag) that I will discuss here.  It’s a repeat: the tool is your brain, and the method is employing that tool for safe and effective decision-making that considers the myriad pieces of the multi-faceted go/no-go puzzle – and how to react and respond if a “go” decision goes wrong.

(Arguably) Wiser Uses of Your Money:

Re-emphasizing your brain as a tool, and decision-making as a method, brings us to the next section of this treatise on avalanche airbags: wiser uses of your money than spending that hard earned coin on an airbag.  I think that spending money for the gear and instruction necessary to employ the tools and methods discussed in the last section is one such example of a wiser use of your money (and the use of that money on instruction/education for knowledge is something that will not deteriorate over time, but develop and grow over time, if you practice with it and use it).  The main point of this section is considering the investment of your money in avalanche education and mountaineering instruction, instead of the purchase of an avalanche airbag.

Worth sharing here is another compelling short story, similar to the one mentioned at the beginning of this treatise about the customer at REI.  Back in 2010 I was heading out for a day of skiing at Hatcher Pass with a very large posse.  We were doing a beacon check with the “gatekeeper” method.  That is, one person stands at the front of the line with their beacon in search as the other skiers in the group pass by with their beacons on and transmitting.  While this was happening a group of several snowmobilers buzzed by us.  I noticed them earlier, when we arrived at the trailhead, and they had already been out riding in avalanche terrain.  The striking thing I noticed (as I was the “gatekeeper” checking my several partners’ beacons), and is worth mentioning here, is that none of those snowmobilers registered as having transmitting beacons.  Now, maybe they just didn’t have them turned on.  But, what would the point of having and wearing a beacon be if it’s not turned on?  More likely, the snowmobilers didn’t have beacons despite having very nice and expensive (likely $10,000+ sleds)!  Maybe it’s that machismo and aggro aspect of sledneck culture: “We don’t need no stinkin’ beacons!”  Worth noting, this was back in the day when Hatcher Pass was much more of a “Wild West” scene, there were snowmobile regulations but they were rarely enforced by rangers and regularly ignored by slednecks, the avalanche education scene in Southcentral Alaska was much less developed, and there was no avalanche forecast or program of organized avalanche information for the Hatcher Pass area (as there is today).

Isn’t that mind-blowing?  Spending thousands of dollars on gear specifically for the purpose of getting “rad” in avalanche terrain, but not even having beacon!  Perhaps that is why nationwide avalanche education has focused so heavily on snowmobiling in more recent years.  You can bet, if they didn’t have beacons, they probably didn’t have any avalanche education!

So, what’s the most wise and prudent investment of your money for a lifetime of safe and enjoyable backcountry travel in avalanche terrain?  EDUCATION!  If you live in Southcentral Alaska there are a plethora of options available for any budget, and I’m sure the local avalanche community will only be developing more options and expanding opportunities in the future.  First and foremost, invest your money in avalanche education as that is what will allow you to develop and hone that most important tool for safe and fun backcountry travel in avalanche terrain: your brain!

Make Sure You Carry What You Really Need for a Worst-Case Scenario in the Backcountry:

The last section of this treatise on avalanche airbags is focused on making sure you have what you really need for a worst-case scenario in the backcountry (and this is part of honing your brain and its decision-making apparatus, in terms of preparedness).  Is the “Hail Mary” that is an avalanche airbag pack what you’re really most likely to need in a worst-case scenario, accident, or emergency?  Or, are there perhaps other items you might be more likely to need?  My fear is that the weight of airbag packs and the space the airbag apparatus take up in the pack causes folks to neglect other more important and more likely needed items given an accident, injury, or burial.

With or without an airbag chances are that if you get caught in an avalanche (at least one for which you’d actually need the airbag) you’re going to be injured, cold, and/or with broken or lost gear.  Do you have adequate first-aid in your pack?  Do you have a repair kit that will enable you to extract yourself from the backcountry given lost or damaged gear?  Do you have plenty of extra layers and the ability to protect from the elements?  It’d be pretty easy to lose some digits or an appendage to cold injuries during the Alaskan winter if you’re not moving, so much so that even carrying down mittens and booties might be warranted (not to mention puff pants and jacket).  Do you have a means of emergency communication?  I’d recommend investing in an InReach, or at least a Spot, for backcountry travel in Alaska’s remote and wild avalanche terrain over an airbag pack.  Plus, an emergency communication device is useful across all seasons (not just the snow season).

Beyond these items for managing a worst-case scenario effectively, there are other items that simply make backcountry travel more efficient and safe that may be neglected due to the space and weight issues of carrying an airbag pack.  For example, lightweight aluminum crampons greatly enhance security and efficiency while booting.  Ski crampons have the same effect when skinning across difficult terrain.  A snow saw is necessary for conducting thorough snowpack analysis and stability testing; it can also be handy for unexpected purposes.

In Closing:

If you’re a snowmobiler, especially one with an expensive sled, weight is less of an issue (as is money since sleds are expensive compared to non-motorized gear) so I’d definitely recommend an airbag pack for riding in avalanche terrain as long as you don’t let it increase your level of risk acceptance/tolerance.  It definitely enhances safety, since the weight penalty isn’t as much of an issue and, if you can manage the risk homeostasis factor.  For the non-motorized recreationists, hopefully I’ve given you some points for consideration in order that you can make a more nuanced decision in terms of whether or not you should equip yourself with an airbag pack and how else you might be better able to invest those funds for safety and fun in the backcountry if you decide not to buy the airbag pack.

Finally, and worth mentioning, I’m also not anti-snowmobile.  Explaining that will require another post.  Stay tuned.  Why do I not call them snowmachines, as is the Alaskan norm?  Snowmachine is a misnomer, and snowmobile makes a lot more sense (however un-macho “mobile” may seem)…

~Mat Brunton