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If you already carry a daypack, why not carry one that can save your life?

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-Rescue Options-

Once caught in an avalanche two undeniable conditions exist.

• You just became an avalanche victim
• You need to be rescued from the avalanche

The fact that you just became a victim is one you have no control over.  You do have control over your rescue.  You can choose to allow yourself to become buried and have others locate and dig you out, or you can do everything you can to rescue yourself.  Lets take a look at both options.

Option #1: Accept Burial

The avalanche victim who accepts the option of becoming buried, and does:

Gives away the best chance of survival Relies solely on the help and abilities of others to rescue him/her. Risks at least a 50% chance of dying through suffocation. The risk goes to 75% if your companions are buried too.  Remember, you only have about 15 minutes to survive once you are buried.  The average depth of a victim buried under the snow is approx. 3 feet. Digging out the victim from under this compressed, hard snow is extremely difficult.

Rescue beacons, shovels and probes cannot prevent burial. This type of equipment is designed to be used after someone is already buried. In the US the survival rate of buried beacon wearers is around 30%.
Beacons cannot be actively used by the buried victim, they are useless apart from giving out an electrical signal. Only those not buried are able to actively use beacons and time is working against them and the victim. This is sobering given the fact that most people that purchase beacons do not regularly practice using their beacon, something you must do to be proficient with it.  Remember, in most cases you only have about 15 minutes before the victims chance of survival all but disappear.  It therefore stands to reason that carrying this type of equipment alone is a conscious decision of the wearer to accept burial and a 70% chance of death.  Why would you do that when there is a better way

Option #2:  Reject Burial

The avalanche victim who rejects the option of becoming buried and stays on top:

Embraces the best chance of survival Relies solely on themselves for rescue Enjoys a 95 - 97% chance of surviving. (Approx 95% of avalanche victims remaining on top of the avalanche survive)

Only the person who avoids burial can help others who may have become buried. 

Once caught in an avalanche preventing one’s own burial is only possible with the ABS-Avalanche Airbag.

The ABS is designed to keep you on top of the avalanche.  To date it has done just that with a documented 98% success rate.

The ABS is not there to change common acknowledged safety standards. To wear the ABS and think, now I can go down any slope because I am invincible, may be the last mistake a backcountry skier, snowboarder, or snowmobiler will make. To avoid the avalanche is still the first goal. Safety standards, including the use of a beacon, training, etc,  are there for a good reason.

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