Saturday, January 01, 2011

Skiing/Boarding Survival Safety on Snowy Days

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The following site contains two pictures of interest, and you are free to send this link, or download and send the pictures, for non-commercial use anywhere it will do some good:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/keachie/sets/72157625711571822/with/4399114524/

I’ve never had more views of photos than the two I posted, 78, and 71 views in the first day up. After thinking and mourning the unknown to me skier, but ask not for whom the bell tolls, I realized the following:

Your cell is worthless, backside of Squaw, Alpine:

Nine simple lightweight small, cheap safety devices, especially for Squaw and Alpine:

Compass (can even be a toy)
Two way walkie talkie, (can be smallest least powerful kind)

Whistle, should be loudest kind.
partial roll toilet paper
$14 Space Blanket, red and silver, possibly two of these
matches and candle
knife, to whittle wood shavings, to add to TP, to start fire.
flashlite, same sized batteries as radio, and possible just a tiny clip on the visor LED light.
50 feet 1/4 parachute cord, any color but white, for tent or stretching out Space Blanket for signal visible from air using poles and skis.

I am now convinced that Shawnte Marie Willis had a bad fall while traversing the ridge in high winds and possibly foggy white out conditions. She got up, and began riding down hill, unaware that she was going to the left, instead of to the right.

As Squaw and Alpine share the crest of the Sierra Nevada in the same way, i.e., it runs north south, and the ski area bowls are to the east of the crest, a compass can tell you, regardless of visibility, if you are in or out of bounds.

If upslope is in the direction that is east, you have gone out of bounds off the backside. Your cell is worthless on the backside, but the walkie talkie is good for at least a couple of hundred yards, enough for nearby rescuers to find you. The bigger the radio and more batteries you’re willing to carry, the better. The more clothing and food, especially peanuts and raisins and chocolate.

Read: Sierra Club's, "Manual of Ski Mountaineering"

You shouldn't have to carry all this stuff on every day, just on the snowy days.

BTW, the biggest and baddest radio I've found in a quick search, 35 mile optimal range, includes flashlight, for $89 a pair, is:
MR355R rechargeable Two-Way Radio

It also takes AA batteries, and lithium would be best for all radios and flashlights.

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