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Snowboarder survives avalanche due to inflatable backpack

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As someone who snowshoes during this season, getting caught in an avalanche (and potentially dying) is easily my biggest fear.
 
Holy crap that video is terrifying.

I've never heard of these airbag backpacks, have they been around awhile? That's some very impressive tech. And he only received it as a gift a month ago!
 
Did it really save his life, though? It doesn't look like that avalanche was terribly deep on the video, so I question whether it could have buried him.

Regardless, neat little gadget.
 
Wow that's crazy.
I wonder how the inflatable backpack actually helped to save the man's life though. Wouldn't it have been the same outcome without it? Total avalanche noob here.
 
We sell inflatable backpacks at my job.

They easily reach $1,000+. That said, they aren't cheap, but can save your life.

They've been around for a little bit.
 
TangoAlphaLima said:
Did it really save his life, though? It doesn't look like that avalanche was terribly deep on the video, so I question whether it could have buried him.

Regardless, neat little gadget.
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It absolutely did. I say this as someone who has been snowboarding for years, getting stuck in even waist deep snow is hazardous since you can't unbuckle from a snowboard immediately. The fact that he was flat on his back and likely propped up by the inflatable pack did him a shitload of good. I've been stuck in snow up to my shoulders after taking a bad jump and landing in a powder bowl still strapped, it's fucking terrifying how hard it is to get out if it's a large enough pit, let alone if you fall in prone or upside down.

Personally I don't board without friends especially through powder runs, running through trees, etc. There have already been a few deaths this year due to lost snowboarders/avalanches.

Suffocating in snow is absolutely a danger.
 
echoshifting said:
Holy crap that video is terrifying.

I've never heard of these airbag backpacks, have they been around awhile? That's some very impressive tech. And he only received it as a gift a month ago!
Click to expand...

I remember them launching as a kickstarter a couple years back, if memory serves me.

SoundLad said:
Wow that's crazy.
I wonder how the inflatable backpack actually helped to save the man's life though. Wouldn't it have been the same outcome without it? Total avalanche noob here.
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It causes you to rise to the top of it by making you a single larger mass, rather than getting buried at the bottom. Same concept behind shaking a bag of cereal. If you shake a bag of cereal, the larger pieces rise to the top.
 
SoundLad said:
Wow that's crazy.
I wonder how the inflatable backpack actually helped to save the man's life though. Wouldn't it have been the same outcome without it? Total avalanche noob here.
Click to expand...
I think it stops the wearer from sinking into the moving snow. Once the snow gets moving, heavy dense items like a human body can easily disappear within it. The inflatable backpack has a much bigger surface area and is lighter so it stays above the snow.

It wouldn't help if Snow literally fell on him.
 
Holy shit that video was terrifying. Avalanches are scary shit. I was a lifty at Marmot Basin and used to love watching the controlled avalanches they would trigger with dynamite early in the AM after a big dump. Thise guys had a crazy job. Just lighting and throwing sticks of dynamite down the mountain. Never seen this inflatable backpack. Thats amazing.
 
Why is no one commenting on the fact that the patrol dude just flopped over off his snowmobile at the end of the video? Laughed my ass off when I saw that.
 
Best part of the video is the snowmobile guy pulling up, saying "Holy fuck" and falling off the side of his ride
 
Into the Light said:
Have you had any scary situations come up?
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Not personally, the people I ride and tour with these days are super responsible and often have multiple certs under their belt.

However, when I first started riding big mountains I was incredibly irresponsible. No beacons, shovels, probes, no knowledge of snowpack, no plan, taking bad lines on the way up and the way down etc...

I've been very lucky but I definitely take it a lot more seriously these days.

edit: I did have to pull a kid out of a tree-well last year, that was pretty scary. Headfirst with his board trapping him. luckily he was only 9 so I pulled him out pretty easily.
 
ThreePiMatt said:
Why is no one commenting on the fact that the patrol dude just flopped over off his snowmobile at the end of the video? Laughed my ass off when I saw that.
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Driving a snowmobile in deep snow is way harder than it looks.
 
Switch Back 9 said:
Driving a snowmobile in deep snow is way harder than it looks.
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And I can't imagine that there was anything but fluff when he stopped so it just tipped over and he had nothing to grab with a boot. I guess you could make the case he should have not driven onto the aftermath.
 
Scary. That pack sounds like a great idea. I quick search showed REI has one for under $500 that uses CO2 instead of a battery powered fan. This seems like cheap insurance if you do back country skiing or boarding.
 
Switch Back 9 said:
Take your AST courses everyone! The backcountry is some scary shit.
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This.

When I moved to Colorado I took some courses and they were really helpful. Prior I only had limited Backcountry experience in east coast, and it's a very different world out there. The instructors took us out skiing, had us dig and examine snow pack layers, simulated avalanche rescue, etc. I made a few good friends out of that course, including the one instructor who is still on search and rescue out there to this day. I've heard terrible stories from him over the years, a lot involving people who didn't have even basic avy gear.

Gear can save your life, but even more important is education, managing risk, and not putting yourself in situations where you ever have to use that safety gear.
 
Deep snow is quite scary. I remember snowmobiling in Quebec back in 95' and going off the main trail. The machine plunged into what seemed like 8'+ of fresh powder. Luckily the opening didn't collapse, but it was still quite weird to look back out of a perfectly sculpted tunnel. And there were people around, so I was rescued quickly.
 
So how does the inflation work? Seemed like it activated automatically after sensing sustained acceleration consistent with an avalanche.
 
This is one 'mazing video, to be caught up in the center of an avalanche like that and make it out, pretty intense. o_o Talk about front-row seats!!

Whatever the case, glad he's safe, with that backpack to thank. Tread carefully on the snow folks.
 
illiniguy05 said:
So how does the inflation work? Seemed like it activated automatically after sensing sustained acceleration consistent with an avalanche.
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I'm pretty sure he pulled a cord, you can see at the beginning he pulls something then the noise starts. That definitely did save his life, avalanche snow is like liquid
 
Terrifying. I'm just wondering what would've happened if the avalanche was more severe, came up over him and he faceplanted while pulling the string to the pack.
 
I'm probably over thinking this, but how does this device save you in an avalanche? Does it just prevent you from getting buried under snow?
 
purg3 said:
I'm probably over thinking this, but how does this device save you in an avalanche? Does it just prevent you from getting buried under snow?
Click to expand...

abs_visual_avalanche_comparison.jpg

Snow definitely acts like a wave, you'll see smaller heavier items get buried all the time in powder drifts but larger things with more surface just stay on top of it as you ride around. Suppose it's the same concept.


Oh it lists right there on the site page.

Properly worn and deployed airbag packs have been shown to be effective in increasing your chances of survival if you are caught in an avalanche. They work on the principle of “Inverse Segregation,” sometimes known as the Brazil Nut Effect. This principle holds that in a moving aggregate of objects large and small (like an avalanche), the larger objects will rise to the top. You can demonstrate this with a bowl of unshelled mixed nuts by shaking it – the larger Brazil nuts will tend to rise to the top, while smaller varieties will sink to the bottom. Deploying an avalanche airbag during a slide effectively turns you into a larger object and greatly increases the chance of you ending up on top of the debris pile when the avalanche stops moving.
Click to expand...
 
Switch Back 9 said:
However, when I first started riding big mountains I was incredibly irresponsible. No beacons, shovels, probes, no knowledge of snowpack, no plan, taking bad lines on the way up and the way down etc...

I've been very lucky but I definitely take it a lot more seriously these days.

.
Click to expand...

I know this feel. Started backcountry riding in high school and looking back I have no idea how we didn't kill ourselves. Never dug pits, never checked angles, no one had probes or beacons, nothing beyond "stay out from under any large cornices".
 
If you have ever ridden a board even moderate sluff can suck you under. The device did exactly what it was supposed to and kept him breathing. The "patrol guy" on the sled is just a dude in the backcountry. This is not in the resort boundary.
 
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