http://www.francetv.fr/info/sauve-d-une-avalanche-par-sa-compagne-il-raconte_59841.html
http://www.ledauphine.com/isere-sud/2012/02/07/elle-m-a-reellement-sauve-la-vie

A bit of an amazing escape ... A skier 43 was saved by his girlfriend, 40 after being buried in a slab avalanche on Feb 6th on the Taillefer massif in Isère in the Pas de Mine sector.

The Dauphiné Libéré reported that she dug through at least a meter of hard snow, taking a half hour to uncover him. He reported at the start of the avalanche, he thought he could stay on top and ski it, but the slabs broke up, and he fell into a large crack formed by the slab breaking up and was then covered. Luckily, the pair always practiced avalanche awareness in their skiing, and only skied one at a time down slopes. His girlfriend was unaffected, so was able to locate him quickly but it took her a half hour of digging through the re-hardened snow to reach him. He said he always heard you should try to swim or make himself an air pocket but was so quickly unable to move that he could not do so, and he fell into a coma after not too long. He said he did not feel he was dying, but going to sleep. Then, when his girlfriend dug him out he started to regain semi-conciousness. She beat his body with her shovel to try to get his blood flowing again, and tried to use his mobile phone after digging him out, to call the gendarmes. She managed to push the wrong button and shut it off, and did not know his PIN number, so was unable to phone. She left him in the hole to keep him out of the wind and covered him in clothing and skied down to the nearest chalet to call for help. It was an hour after being uncovered when the gendarmes reached him and he was in a state of severe hypothermia and suffered cardiac complications when he was brought to the hospital. But he will miraculously be making a full recovery ... (note the online version does not have the entire article, it is in the newsstand version).

Some good points, the time taken to find and dig through the snow, he was very lucky. The fact that he thought he could ride out the slide - as you often see freeriders do - probably only possible if you can ski at Mach 2.0 on a slope of moving bricks ! No mobile, so not able to call the rescue services.

BTW You can always dial the rescue services even without the PIN code or SIM Card

just confirmed this on my phone (ok I didn’t actually make the call but it will let you do so.

Yeah I wondered about that too as I thought you could always call 112 - the paper version was the only one to reference the PIN number issue, and the online one seems to make it sound like her phone was “not in a working state”. But in a panic as I am sure she was, perhaps she did not remember that you could make emergency calls. I always have to wonder how much of what they print in an article is entirely accurate, since the 2 online articles do not mention that PIN issue and just say “she didn’t have a phone in a working state” and the printed version is quoting him talking about the PIN issue ... hmm. Well, in any case, he is alive thanks to her actions in the end, so it all worked out.

davidof - 09 February 2012 03:05 PM

BTW You can always dial the rescue services even without the PIN code or SIM Card

Yes, this is the very definition of an emergency number as agreed between international operators. It’s a really, really important point, people who are in border areas for example may have PAYG phones with no roaming and knowing the local security number might not help.

Not all three or four digit numbers that work from a fixed line will work from a SIM-less mobile.

Much better to call 112 than know the helicopters pilots home number

firechick - 09 February 2012 04:06 PM

Yeah I wondered about that too as I thought you could always call 112 - the paper version was the only one to reference the PIN number issue, and the online one seems to make it sound like her phone was “not in a working state”. But in a panic as I am sure she was, perhaps she did not remember that you could make emergency calls. I always have to wonder how much of what they print in an article is entirely accurate, since the 2 online articles do not mention that PIN issue and just say “she didn’t have a phone in a working state” and the printed version is quoting him talking about the PIN issue ... hmm. Well, in any case, he is alive thanks to her actions in the end, so it all worked out.

I’m sure it is very easy to get confused or panicked in such a situation, lucky it worked out ok as you say.

I recently attended a talk on avalanche safety by Stuart Macdonald, of Avalanche Academy in Chamonix, there was mention of the impact of various types of shovels on the speed of rescue. Someone had done practical tests and to get through compacted debris, he found that an aluminum blade with a serrated cutting edge and a flat top to take a boot, plus a “D” shaped handle was by far the quickest.

The test being quoted there is probably the one performed by Manuel Genswein and Ragnhild Eide which is actually now 4 years old. It was suggested a serrated blade might be a good design. The only one tested with a serrated edge was destroyed pretty quickly.

There were a lot of complaints from manufacturers about the test, some of which I’d say were pretty fair comment. The general point that some shovels on sale aren’t very good was reasonable though.

Black Diamond, IIRC, particularly highlighted that booting the top of a shovel to dig wasn’t normal technique and when rescuers were working in that type of terrain they tended to have arrived by helicopter with big steel bladed, long handled shovels.  In fact they said :

In our view, the technique used in the test involving hammering down with ski boots onto the back edge of the shovels is only used for and should only be used for, dead body recovery. We have questioned several seasoned professional patrollers about this technique just to be sure, and none of them have ever dug in a rescue search in the manner described in this test. Most commonly, rescuers are down on their knees chopping and shoveling very quickly. Digging with feet in a rescue scenario is very dangerous for a buried victim and such a test advocates and promotes an unusual, dangerous method.

and also

We concur with these official statements about the test by other avalanche shovel manufacturers:

Pieps: “Basically you can destroy any piece of equipment, if you want…The strike with your foot method is dangerous for the victim…For this test to use this method and call it correct blade use is dangerous to publish…Such articles contribute to unjustified insecurity for many alpinists and are not consistent with the information and knowledge with which this journal has become popular.”

Ortovox: “…We believe that so-called tests like the one…by Manuel Genswein and Ragnhild Eide only create uncertainty for consumers…. The results of this test are not comprehensible.”

In an extreme case, when there is a very big avalanche that’s packed so cement-solid that avalanche rescue shovels would break when pounded on by boots, rescue crews are using steel bladed, wood handled shovels to dig out dead bodies. This is not what our shovels are designed to do. They are not for digging ditches in glaciers. They are for snow pit and avalanche emergencies, they are rapid response tools. With this in mind, we’ve designed our shovels for optimal snow volume capacity, ease and quickness of deployment, ergonomics, lightweight, and strength (within parameters of safe and realistic use).

I did see it mentioned elsewhere that we all knew serrated blades were the best and, as I knew nothing of the sort, I was curious where that had come from. My guess is that it was a partial reading of this test.

As I say, the general point that some shovels on sale aren’t very good was reasonable though. And one of the “winners” was the G3 Avitech, we’ve got several of those and they’re fantastic. I dig with mine a lot, not least building igloos and the like and the G3 handles really well.

Do people go for a long handled or short handled shovel? I have a BD deploy (I think) which is a short handle, at our recent club outing (nearly everyone 40+) everyone complained about the short handled shovels and now I’m wondering whether I should get a long handled shovel.

I also note Ise said something recently about probes with strings rather than cables.

Someone handed me a short handled one a couple of weeks back and I found it more awkward and less effective. Short, or shortening, handles work great for finer work like finishing an igloo though.

I don’t know the cord in those probes won’t last, but I wasn’t comfortable with it. Someone I was with last year broke a probe, I can’t quite recall what happened now, the top came apart in some way I think. I don’t recall the make.

I do like the G3’s shovels, I’m kicking myself as I had the chance to buy some cheap last year and didn’t. I wanted to complete a set and they were dirt cheap so I got one. Then I later wanted two more to go to six sets and of course I couldn’t get them again. Although the Ortovox Beast’s we got aren’t bad, I built an igloo and a shelter the other week with the beast and it was OK.

It was interesting to note the time it took top dig him out. In my experience correct shovelling technique is often overlooked when people are being giving basic beacon training, identifying were someone is buried is unfortunately only half the battle.

Some very interesting points here. A decent shovel is a must when off-piste. There is no point having one unless it will really stand up to the job. Metal head, serrated edge (not essential, but they do cut debris very well), extendable handle (preferably oval, not round as you can always locate the pin holes), D grip. Ortovox Kodiak fits the bill nicely and allows you to shift a lot of snow very quickly.

In addition to a decent shovel, as mentioned above, good technique is essential. Some people seem to want to tunnel directly to the victim, but it is inefficient as you end up in a confined space. After locating the victim with a probe, establish their depth. Move down hill 1.5xthat distance. Imagine an equilateral triangle with the point at the probe. Start at the base of the triangle and work horizontally into the hill. You would think that this is a lot of un-necessary shovelling, but it really does work. It also allows you to approach the victim from the side, rather than above, and gives you a flat platform to perform first aid on once they’re out.

Stay safe folks....