Avalanche Transceivers Do You Use Them

Thanks, all, for some great replies.

It appears from this minor survey that beacons (if used at all) are more often used by BC skiers than climbers. And as a couple mentioned, avalanches in the greater ranges can be far different than those found in the lower 48. Several mentioned the importance of shovels whether using beacons or not.

Last, but certainly not least, there were several mentions of things that could be lumped together as "mountain sense"; knowledge of snow conditions, temps, local patterns, etc. In the end, mountain sense is probably the best way to avoid hazards in a hazardous environment.

This was a good discussion from my viewpoint. Thanks for contributing.

JV

Andrew Gram wrote: That isn't true in my experience. Unless you are climbing at odd times of the year, small avalanches aren't a big concern due to the nature of the snowpack and the terrain. The thing to worry about are huge serac falls. This is why it is a little odd to have US based skiers that haven't gone to the big ranges talking about beacon use in the Himalayas - it just isn't the same environment.

Hmm..I think it it's a little odd to generalize "the nature of the snowpack and terrain" for an entire mountain range. Do avalanches not occur in these fabled "Great Ranges"? Are they only unsurvivable, or small(inconsequential) in the Himalaya? I wouldn't know, never been.

Seems too black and white to me.

It depends, of course.

That said, beacons are only part of a system. As others have pointed out, if you're not carrying a shovel and a probe, they don't serve much of a purpose outside of body recovery when SAR shows up.

The other part of that system is the ability to *rapidly* search the avy path and debris field. In backcountry skiing, this is often a given since you picked the slope because it was skiable. When climbing, there's a good chance that the avalanche runs over technical terrain that would make the course search difficult or even impossible, especially within 15 minutes. In that case, your beacon, shovel, and probe aren't going to do any good, either.

Like most things in climbing, it's one big calculation. The above relates to odds of being able to quickly get to someone who is caught in a slide. If you also take into account the higher odds of significant trauma due to technical terrain (largely unsurvivable, even with a quick rescue) and the potential remoteness (again, significantly decreasing the odds of survival), and the survival odds start to get negligible in a hurry. In that case, save the weight and complexity and focus your attention on not getting caught in the first place.

C.Worthen wrote: Hmm..I think it it's a little odd to generalize "the nature of the snowpack and terrain" for an entire mountain range. Do avalanches not occur in these fabled "Great Ranges"? Are they only unsurvivable, or small(inconsequential) in the Himalaya? I wouldn't know, never been. Seems too black and white to me.

During normal climbing seasons in temperate/tropical large mountain ranges like the Andes or Himalayas, you are generally climbing on glacial ice or stable summer snowpacks. The small slab avalanches that lend themselves to survivable burials are just really rare in that kind of terrain/conditions. The avalanches you do see are usually big serac falls that are not really survivable, or spindrift avalanches on really steep terrain that wouldn't result in a burial. If I did see a really unusual condition in which I worried about small slab avalanches(and I never have), I would avoid that terrain. It would certainly be different if you were climbing in the winter or monsoon season, but if you are doing that sort of thing you don't need advice on mountainproject.

I've done a fair number of climbing trips in the Andes and one to the Caucasus, and in those trips i've never seen or heard of anyone using a beacon. I have friends that have climbed much more extensively than I in the Andes and in the Himalayas, and none of them have ever used beacons either. All of us use beacons all the time when backcountry skiing. I don't believe they are useful tools for mountains like the Andes or Himalayas in normal conditions. I'd be interested to see if anybody believes differently that has done those sorts of trips, but I would be surprised.