Avalanche Probes
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Avalanche Probes, the essential tool to complete your avalanche safety kit
Are you an unconditional lover of powder and off-piste sports? You have surely heard of the avalanche safety pack. This pack, which includes a transceiver, shovel, and probe, increases your chances of survival if you are caught in an avalanche, or helps you locate someone buried under the snow from an avalanche. While the transceiver is used in the first phase of the search to locate the victim more or less precisely, the avalanche probe comes into play during the second phase. Its role is to identify the depth of the snow and thus locate the depth of the victim. The avalanche probe gives you a good idea of how much snow needs to be cleared to reach the buried victim, making it easier to find them. In an emergency situation such as an avalanche, your avalanche probe must be effective enough to make your task easier and save you precious minutes. It is estimated that after 15 minutes, a victim of an avalanche sees their chances of survival drastically decrease. Therefore, you must choose your avalanche probe wisely to be well-equipped in case of a snow slide. Your avalanche probe, along with the transceiver and shovel, plays a crucial role in a situation where every minute counts. To enhance your safety in the mountains, we recommend adopting an avalanche safety pack, which includes an avalanche probe to complement the transceiver and shovel. Also, like all safety equipment, the avalanche probe deserves to be chosen meticulously. Indeed, not all avalanche probes are the same and certainly not equal: differences in diameter, length, tension system, etc. How then to find the optimal avalanche probe to be the most effective? It would be futile to equip yourself with a state-of-the-art transceiver and a probe that is not effective, undermining your efforts to find a buried victim. We will provide you with all the elements to consider when choosing your avalanche probe.
Avalanche Probe: what criteria to choose it well?
Several criteria must be taken into account to make the right choice of avalanche probe. Indeed, the diameter, tension system, length, cable, and cords are essential elements for your avalanche probe, which can truly make a difference on the day. To avoid any unpleasant surprises and ensure you have the best possible safety equipment, let’s examine each component of a snow probe.
Avalanche Probe: the importance of diameter
While a thin avalanche probe may seem attractive at first glance because it is easier to carry in your backpack during your ski touring or freeride skiing sessions, a small diameter can quickly become problematic in use. Indeed, a small diameter also means less rigidity, leading to greater flexibility that can cause the avalanche probe to bend. However, a bent avalanche probe can cause you to miss a victim. Therefore, a wide diameter avalanche probe is recommended for this type of operation, especially when dealing with such snow blocks, where rigidity is essential.
Avalanche Probe: choosing the tension system wisely
The tension system of an avalanche probe also plays a crucial role. In the face of an avalanche, every second counts to find the buried person. Thus, to be as effective as possible, the assembly and disassembly of your avalanche probe must be quick. This requires a sufficiently rigid tension system so that your avalanche probe does not come apart every time you lift it to the surface of the snow. Moreover, having a less rigid avalanche probe can prevent you from optimally sensing what you are probing, and thus miss your victim. The tension system of your avalanche probe must therefore be optimal to increase your chances of finding the buried victim.
Avalanche Probe: the minimum length to respect
To find a person buried under the snow, a short probe would obviously be ineffective. Furthermore, to probe correctly, having good support is important. The standard size of an avalanche probe is currently about 2.40 meters, which is highly recommended. At a minimum, you should opt for an avalanche probe of 2 meters in length. Also, check that your avalanche probe fits in your backpack once disassembled, to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Avalanche Probe: the cable, the guarantee of longevity
After length, diameter, and tension system, the cable also plays a crucial role during your searches with your snow probe. The cable is indeed the best guarantee of longevity for your avalanche probe. In addition to facilitating the assembly of your snow probe, it increases its rigidity, which allows it to better withstand and thus last much longer. Therefore, choose an avalanche probe mounted around a cable, connecting each section.
Avalanche Probe: the cord, a recommended option
The last component of your snow probe, the cord is indeed an option, but one we highly recommend to be even more effective if an avalanche occurs. There are snow probes that offer cords to go around your wrist. This will allow you to pull your probe out of the snow more quickly and thus gain speed. Be sure to check that your cord is not broken at the beginning of each season, to avoid any unpleasant surprises when pulling on your probe to extract it from the snow.
You are now fully informed of the criteria to consider when choosing your snow probe. Thus, you must ensure to choose an avalanche probe with a sufficiently large diameter, a length of at least 2 meters, a robust tension system, cabling, and finally cords to go around the wrist. By respecting all these elements, you increase your chances of finding the buried victim, being more effective and quicker in your searches. However, to be more effective, equipment alone is not enough: it is also about knowing how to use it properly! Don’t panic, we will explain all that.
Avalanche Probe: how to use it properly?
First of all, to avoid wasting time when an emergency situation arises, make sure to prepare your avalanche probe well before heading out for a snow session. Thus, remove it from its packaging and store it in the compartment dedicated to your safety equipment in your backpack. This should be easily accessible and closed, to avoid losing your equipment along the way. Now let’s get to the heart of the matter, which is how to use your snow probe. Once the position of the victim is identified with the transceiver, deploy the avalanche probe and proceed with a precise probing, starting from the center of the final cross with an interval of 30 cm. Follow the spiral method, which is recognized as the most effective to date. The graduation you will read on the probe will allow you to know the depth of the snow, and thus the depth of burial of the victim. Once these steps are completed, you can begin to shovel carefully to clear the victim. To avoid panicking if an avalanche occurs, the ideal is to practice with your safety equipment, especially your avalanche probe, to become familiar with your gear and thus be more effective in an emergency and stressful situation.
Find your avalanche probe on Hardloop.fr
Whether you are a fan of freeride skiing or ski touring, you must always carry your avalanche probe with you, just like the rest of your mountain safety pack, namely your transceiver and shovel. To increase your chances of survival or to help you find a victim buried under an avalanche, the avalanche probe plays a crucial role that should not be underestimated and can save you precious minutes. Despite reading this article, do you still have a question or doubt regarding your choice of avalanche probe? Contact us by phone at 01 58 48 30 20 (free call) or by email at hello@hardloop.fr. Our experts will guide you in finding your avalanche probe for your next snowy adventures!