Advanced Avalanche Safety Equipment of Backcountry Users: Current Trends and Perceptions.
OBJECTIVE
Backcountry travelers should carry a standard set of safety gear (transceiver, shovel, and probe) to improve rescue chances and reduce mortality risk. Many backcountry enthusiasts are using other advanced equipment such as an artificial air pocket (eg, the AvaLung) or an avalanche air bag. Our goal was to determine the numbers of backcountry users carrying advanced equipment and their perceptions of mortality and morbidity benefit while carrying this gear.


METHODS
A convenience sample of backcountry skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers, and snowmobilers was surveyed between February and April 2014. Participants of this study were backcountry mountain users recruited at trailheads in the Wasatch and Teton mountain ranges of Utah and Wyoming, respectively. Questions included prior avalanche education, equipment carried, and perceived safety benefit derived from advanced equipment.


RESULTS
In all, 193 surveys were collected. Skiers and snowboarders were likely to have taken an avalanche safety course, whereas snowshoers and snowmobilers were less likely to have taken a course. Most backcountry users (149, 77.2%), predominantly skiers and snowboarders, carried standard safety equipment. The AvaLung was carried more often (47 users) than an avalanche air bag (10 users). The avalanche air bag had a more favorable perceived safety benefit. A majority of participants reported cost as the barrier to obtaining advanced equipment.


CONCLUSIONS
Standard avalanche safety practices, including taking an avalanche safety course and carrying standard equipment, remain the most common safety practices among backcountry users in the Wasatch and Tetons. Snowshoers remain an ideal target for outreach to increase avalanche awareness and safety.
Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (Drs Ng and McIntosh). Electronic address: pearlly.ng@gmail.com.
Pearlly
P
Ng
St. John's Medical Center, Jackson, WY (Drs Smith and Wheeler); Clinical WWAMI Faculty, Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA (Dr Smith).
William R
WR
Smith
St. John's Medical Center, Jackson, WY (Drs Smith and Wheeler).
Albert
A
Wheeler
Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (Drs Ng and McIntosh).
Scott E
SE
McIntosh
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055875:Avalanches; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009051:Mountaineering; D011482:Protective Devices; D012449:Safety; D014589:Utah; D014959:Wyoming; D055815:Young Adult
avalanche; backcountry; safety equipment