So what is the CAA AGM all about? It’s a week-long meeting with avalanche forecasters, educators, ski guides, snowmobile guides, industry, and highways to go over the season’s efforts, events, actions and plans. There’s a recap of the season and there are presentations on current and continuing avalanche research efforts covering topics from avalanche airbags to slab fracture mechanics.… Read more
What is the best avalanche beacon for the backcountry? To find out, Outdoor Gear Lab took nine of the top avalanche transceiver models and put them in rigorous head-to-head tests in the Cascades, Sierra, and Alaska. They had novices test them to see which is easiest to use and learn and then also put them in the hands of expert mountain guides and AIARE instructors who teach avalanche safety courses.
Outdoor Gear Lab picked the Backcountry Access Tracker 2, three-antennae avalanche transceiver as the “Best Buy – Best Value” for 2013. The outdoor gear review website reports that the BCA Tracker 2 stands out as one of the easiest beacons to use,… Read more
By Donny Roth- Learn more about Donny and his latest human powered projects at Independent Descents.
As a skier that calls Colorado home, I am normally thrilled to hear the expression “Pineapple Express.” This is the term we use to describe an atmospheric river that brings warm, moist air from the water near the Hawaiian Islands and flows on shore somewhere in North America. It makes perfect sense to me that anytime we can combine Hawaii and Colorado things are going to be good. Our continental climate needs a significant amount of moisture before things get really deep, and the elevation makes it so we very rarely deal with rain… Read more
Another great blog post from BCA guest blogger Matt Wade of Peak Mountain Guides-
Boom! Another powerful whumpf resonated beneath our feet as we ascended through the forest. A crack propagated through the snowpack around us. We held our breaths. . . but we knew the slab would not release. We were on terrain that was only 25 degrees, an angle we had intentionally chosen because we knew this slope was likely to collapse under the weight of a person. I took out my probe and measured the snowpack depth. Leaning over to see the centimeter markings on the side of the probe, I exclaimed “Yep, another shallow area. The… Read more
Check out National Park Warden dog handler Mike Henderson and Cazz – his avalanche rescue dog and general duty police dog. They recently travelled to Lake Louise and discuss avalanche safety and awareness with ski patroller Craig Sheppard.
Parks Canada made this video to emphasize serious safety issues with regards to avalanche safety. However, the “avalanche deterrent” technique is not a real technique – they don’t really send Avi Dogs out chasing rope jumpers looking for easy backcountry and sidecountry access. (It’s just a little Canadian humor at play to make an impact).
Watch Mike and Cazz demonstrate some unusual “avalanche deterrent” techniques to help discourage people from entering closed… Read more
Join Backcountry Access at the 11th Annual Arapahoe Basin Beacon Bowl in Colorado on February 9, 2013. The Beacon Bowl is an event developed by A-Basin’s ski patrol and BCA to teach and test skills for the backcountry. Patrol will start the day at 9:15 a.m. with Beacon Bowl competitions for recreational and pro levels.
Free beacon clinics with A-Basin ski patrol, CAIC and Backcountry Access personnel will take place from 9:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. An avalanche dog and snow pit demonstration will follow at 1:15 p.m. The competition, clinics and demonstrations will take place on mountain at the base of the Lenawee Mountain Lift.
BCA will be on… Read more
The use of avalanche beacons and rigorous rescue training resulted in the swift rescue of a snowmobiler buried in an avalanche in the Utah’s Monte Cristo area.
The snowmobiler was recovered in just four to five minutes after being buried by a 350-foot wide avalanche in an area south of Whiskey Creek, said Sgt. Brandon Toll of the Weber County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday. The slide apparently started when the man cut a path into an area locals call the “bobsled run.”
“The guys were prepared, trained and when this occurred, immediately their training kicked in and we were able to have a successful outcome,” he said.
Toll said… Read more
Join BCA at a special seminar at SIA 2013 entitled “The Business of the Backcountry,” hosted by Verde PR. The seminar will be on January 31, at 1:30 pm, on the trade show floor within the Backcountry Experience Area, booth #4571.
The “Business of the Backcountry” panel marks the first time that perspectives and conversation regarding backcountry safety and its tie to our sustainability as an industry has been formally discussed and dissected. “Business of the Backcountry” Panelists include: Jones Snowboards and POW founder Jeremy Jones, Julbo eyewear athlete and legendary freeskier Glen Plake, ESPN.com freeskiing editor Megan Michelson, Backcountry.com Director of Merchandising, Hud Knight, VP at Backcountry Access, Bruce Edgerly, Ethan Greene, Director of… Read more
Posted by Jordan Sunshine, evo: It seems like everyone is talking about avalanche airbags, the newest piece of backcountry gear in the whole avalanche safety equation. Airbags first debuted as an pro- and guide-level backpack. With the introduction of the affordable BCA Float, the avalanche airbag has now reached the masses, and is considered by many as an essential 4th piece of equipment following the trifecta of beacon, shovel, probe. Scott Schell, the Program Director at the Friends of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center, spent some time with evo to explain some of the truths, myths, and tips behind the airbag. From the impressive survival rates that avalanche institutes… Read more
ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE DENVER POST, SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2013. Reported by Jason Blevins
Bruce “Edge” Edgerly navigates a maze of pallets — each laden with boxes reaching the ceiling — in his Boulder warehouse.
“What do we call this room now?” he asks no one in particular.
“The Float Department,” comes an answer from behind a tower of cardboard.
“Ah. It’s a department now,” Edgerly says as his employees tear open boxes and stock swelling shelves with an array of Backcountry Access’ Float backpacks, each boasting compressed-air cylinders that — with the yank of a ripcord — inflate airbags designed to save backcountry travelers caught in avalanches.
The… Read more
Products |
Education |
Customer Service |
Pro / Gov / Media Services |
Posts RSS