Thread: Avalanche Safety Device tested

Here it is at 1 and a half seconds......

....and at 2 seconds inflation time.

If you take a look at our lift bag it differs from the other avalanche lifting devices now in use in a couple different ways.

First off it is significantly smaller than other systems. We found in last year’s tests that the 3 cubic foot lift bag put the test dummy at the leading edge of the stopped avalanche, and always off to one side or the other of the slide. The lift bags were always completely exposed above the surface of the snow, and the dummies all had a hand or an arm visible above the snow. The dummies were buried horizontal to the surface under 6 to 8 inches of snow. All of the mountain guides and ski-patrollers helping with the test felt that they would have been able to dig themselves out, and these people had been in avalanches themselves. When we used larger 20 cubic foot lift bags attached to 650 pound snowmobiles we were able to put the snowmobiles completely on top of the debris field after the avalanches (video at www.warisite.com). The point being that the magic number of cubic feet needed to put a human on top of the snow is somewhere between 3 and 10 cubic feet of expanded CO2 gas, but anything more than 3 cubic feet of bottled gas is too large to carry on your hip or on a chest harness, and our device is housed in a soft sided pouch that can be attached to your backpack waistbelt or worn with a chest harness.

A second difference is the shape of the lift bag. Our device is taurus or donut shaped. The hole in the donut positions itself over your face, providing your head with some protection. As well our device is worn in front of the user, positioning the victim in a face-up manner after the avalanche. We are putting together prototypes that have handles on each side that MIGHT allow a victim (hate to even throw this out there) to steer their way down the avalanche. OK, OK, that sounds totally crazy, but lifting devices tend to propel the victim to the leading edge of the moving slide.

Some people have suggested that we use oxygen or nitrogen instead of CO2 (carbon dioxide) to inflate the bag so that the bag could be deflated after the avalanche to provide an air pocket for the victim. The problem here is that the oxygen and nitrogen only provide 2/3 of the inflation of the CO2 as they are in gas form in the bottles as opposed to the liquified CO2 in the bottles. It would also be really tough to find a way to deflate the lift bag after the slide.

Originally Posted by jtwassoc

closer look at Eve's torso.....

Note to self... don't stand too close to the 50lbs ANFO charges...

Thank you for working on this stuff!

Found a shot of the bomb in the air....

closer....

Bell and slide.

next......

50 lb bomb.

damn,

u guys arent joking around

The mystery deepens.......

In avalanche test number two (where Adam was retired), the lift bag was completely missing once the dummy was recovered. This same lift bag was seen fully inflated after being coughed up by the avalanche and thrown out in front of the leading edge of the avalanche higher up on the hill. Intensive photographic analysis using high resolution photography and Kokanee beer reveals that the first bomb dropped on the cornice punched through and sailed down the mountain inside the avalanche right next to Adam and Eve, detonating in their vicinity and possibly blowing the lift bag right off of Adam. Only the avalanche knows for sure. Judge for yourself, both Adam and Eve were found quite close to the bomb's detonation point.......

....bomb goes off.....

....bomb completely visible......

....boom. Whoops, posted that bugger twice. Time to put down the Kokanee.....

shock wave....

.....rumble......

all gone.....

....here's a shot of the dummy and the fully inlated lift bag being coughed up out of the avalanche just a little ways up the mountain from the previous pics.

The red lift bag and dummy are in the center of the picture at the bottom.....

.....a little closerrrrrr..........

...they are doomed....

Originally Posted by jtwassoc

Avalanche Three was a big bust. We retired Adam after avalanche test number two and went with just Eve wearing a lift bag for the third avy. Unfortunately the bomb landed right next to her. You can see her torso taking a ride in this pic......

FLY BE FREEEEEE!

You have a sweet job

Originally Posted by trouble

You have a sweet job

Yeah no shit, I go through like 1000s of pounds per day of explosives at work, but I don't get to watch them go off!!!
That's pretty sweet!

EVE LIVES........

A closer look at the pics from the third test avalanche reveals the red lift bag emerging from inside the avalanche. Apparently Eve was not blown to kingdom come, nor was her attached lift bag. The explosive charge blew them into the air, but they landed intact in the slide zone and ended up taking a nice ride down the hill. Judge for yourself.

a little closer.......

Closer yet. Center right side of the pic you can see a dull red splotch.....