I must confess that until recently I didn’t have my own transceiver, I knew the basics of how to work one and all that, but I didn’t have my own. Lets face it they are important, and after years of cruising down the fresh powder with not much thought other than what line to take, I’ve finally got myself a transceiver and after doing some training with HAT, well I think I might even know how to use it!
I suspect many of you have heard of HAT, or Henry’s Avalanche Talks to use their full name, and I bet some of you have said that you’d like to go to a talk, or do some training but you never have, and then sadly there is the minority of people who haven’t been, and don’t really care too much as long as there is lots of snow involved.
Far from being dull, HAT talks are informative and more importantly useful, there are a lot of things that are common sense, but there are also other bits of info that you might never have thought of if you hadn’t gone and had a chat to the guys who run HAT out here in Val.
But enough of my soapbox, I’ve recently been on one of the ‘beeper’ training days, which is where you spend a few hours learning how to be safe, the procedure of trying to find someone if they get buried and all the little things that you weren’t taught by your ski teacher.
The majority of us do off piste just because it’s there, only few do only off piste and most people go off the pisted slopes without any training or in depth knowledge of the risks involved. Many avalanches happen just to the side of the slope, so these hints and tips are useful, even if you won’t be skiing the Tour de Charvet any time soon.
Back to beeper training, I was booked on and to be honest I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, was it going to be like school or something completely casual, and how the hell was I going to remember everything that had been said. But my fears were quickly placated when I met the guys who run the on the hill training for HAT. They were both friendly and reassuring, so my fears of running into my year 11 Maths teacher in some kind of ski form were completely unfounded.
There is a lot to take in, and there is an extensive talk at the beginning to get you started. This is definitely not a time to be staring at the clouds or at the riders in the park, it’s serious stuff and you won’t really get another chance to hear it. We were told about the 3 phases of the search and how important it is to think about the little things as well as the big things. For example the fact that putting your glove down might mislead a scent if dogs need to be brought in and that if there are a few of you, dividing tasks means you can work quickly and more effectively.
During the talk you go in depth into what the phases of a search are should one of your group get stuck in an avalanche, as well as looking at how to put a probe together quickly and properly, and of course how to use it. Probing as it turns out is not a needle in a haystack game, but a sequence of coordinated movements designed to maximise your chances of finding someone under the snow.
The statistics don’t lie, the chances of you finding someone alive severely decrease after 15 minutes, so it’s important to get going and start working towards finding whoever is buried. The training is as much about getting you practising with a transceiver as it is about giving you new information.
The guys from HAT set you out a course where there are transceivers buried at various points in the off piste sections between the blue runs 3J and Diebold. Each stopping point has a different place to start, and some require you to start from phase one, zig-zagging across the piste, whereas others require a starting point at phase two. Everything is designed to get you using your transceiver properly and effectively.
I felt a bit nervous as I went to try and find my first buried object, and I confess to getting a bit wound up over it and panicking ever so slightly, but it’s good to remember this is practice, and the panic will be ten times as worse if it’s your friend under there, so I calmed my nerves and got on with the job while trying to remember everything I’d been told at the top. When I found it, and found it by using all the information I’d been given I felt pretty damn chuffed so I hopped on the lift and then did it all over again somewhere else. Every area was different, some were steep and others weren’t. Some required you to get out of your skis or off your snowboard and pace it around, and others had large areas you needed to cover, but they all gave you vital practice and a satisfied glow when you found your prize.
After four or five goes I was thinking that I was getting pretty good, and naturally a bit of ego comes in. That’s when Jamie cracks out a stopwatch and times you trying to find the buried transceiver. Pressure is on, and of course a bit of a competitive streak with the people I was doing it with. You’d be surprised how just that little added component muddles you up and all of a sudden you’re going up when you should be going down and your transceiver doesn’t seem to be making sense anymore, but then one calming breath later transporting you back to what you’ve absorbed in the day and you’re on your way to saving an imaginary buried person.
What’s great about getting out on the piste is the practice. The talks are fantastic, but there isn’t anything like getting out there and just using your transceiver in a situation on the mountain, even if it’s a buried bag you’re after, not a person. It’s also a great thing to do with your friends, especially if they are friends that you go off piste with. Nothing makes you feel secure like the knowledge your pal might be able to save you if things went wrong.
So what have I learnt? Well the fact that panicking although a common reaction isn’t really going to get you anywhere. Counting to ten and just getting in touch with your common sense will stand you in good stead for what’s to come.
I’ve learnt that going one by one and making frequent stops will make life much easier should anyone get caught, and that watching them for a ‘point last seen’ is vital. This is always going to be where you start from, and the chances of them being above it are incredibly slim.
Getting to know your transceiver is something that everyone should do, there isn’t much point in buying one then leaving it brand spanking new in a drawer until you go off into unknown territory. Practice makes perfect, and yours might not work like the one you’ve borrowed before, so don’t think you know everything about them, because one day you might get a nasty surprise.
But most of all don’t neglect the need to learn new things. Yes we all think we’re right, and that we are the best skiers of the hill, but learning this kind of stuff is very worthwhile and can actually be a fun morning, and you’ll feel better knowing that should the worst happen, you’re in a position to do something about it.
