Pro Guiding Service - Avalanche Transceivers

People who pursue adventure sports generally agree: He who takes no risks doesn't live. Unfortunately he who takes risks, sometimes dies. King of the dangers when it comes to backcountry skiing? Avalanches.

Your best hedge against this danger is knowledge. Learn where and when avalanches occur, how to diagnose slides, and how to avoid them (see archived Backcountry articles for information). When knowledge fails, the results get grisly fast--50% of buried avalanche victims who were not killed by trauma will be dead after 20 minutes, 80% will be dead after an hour. Translation: If you can't extract a buddy from a slide, he'll be ready for a body bag by the time others arrive to help. Likewise if you're the unlucky victim, either your buds save you or you're toast.

Take a minute to absorb that--imagine yourself lying under several feet of avalanche debris. The white cement has you completely pinned and the black hand of eternity waits patiently like a vulture as you suffocate in your own stale air. In those last panic-filled moments you will undoubtedly believe the rewards of skiing the slope that put you in this pickle wasn't worth the price. And if you aren't wearing a transceiver, an electronic beacon by which your companions can locate you quickly, your final moments will be spent wrestling with the knowledge that stupidity has just erased you from the gene pool.

Transceivers, wallet-sized electronic devices which 'transmit' a signal that the beacons of your friends can 'receive', change all that. They don't change the fact that avalanches are dangerous business--25% of all avalanche victims are killed by trauma as they get dragged over rocks and smashed into trees. But for those who survive the slide, transceivers are the best life insurance going. Companions who are practiced in their use will be able to locate you in an area the size of a football field within a minute or two. And if your party is properly prepared with probes and shovels, you stand a good chance of skiing away from the brink of extinction.

Following are some of the best transceivers on the market.

ORTOVOX F2

In 1990, the standardized frequency used by transceivers switched from 2,275 kHz to 457 kHz. The "new" frequency has considerably greater range, emits a clearer signal, and is less likely to experience radio interference. In a perfect world everyone would immediately update. In an imperfect world where $250 to $300 is a lot to spend if you own an operational "old" device, the most important consideration for a party is compatibility. Everyone should be able to find (or be found) by everyone else.

The big advantage of the F2 is that it transmits and receives both the old and new frequencies. If you ski with many different people--some who are too cheap to update, others who always have the latest and greatest gizmos--this may be the unit for you.

It's not a perfect solution. The F2 does not transmit or receive its signal as far as a single-frequency, 457 kHz beacon. It also uses an earphone (rather than a built-in speaker) to amplify the signal of a buried victim. Earphones are clumsy and slower to use; they are also more likely to fail or be lost in the field.

Nonetheless, the F2 is a high-quality, well-made transceiver, and skiers who take the time to practice with it each season won't be greatly handicapped by the awkwardness of an earphone. Meanwhile, the F2s benefits ensure that regardless of who you ski with, no one is going to be left out in the cold without avalanche insurance.

ORTOVOX F1

More of these transceivers are currently in use in North America than any other--partly because this German-made beacon is marketed well, partly because it is an excellent product.

The F1 operates on the 457 kHz frequency (it is not compatible with the old frequency) and has a maximum range of about 60 meters (maximum range depends on a number of variables including antenna orientation of two units, and battery strength). This greater range lets rescuers perform a coarse search over avalanche debris faster and with less likelihood of bypassing a victim than with old-style transceivers.

Furthermore the unit is ergonomic and sculpts itself nicely to the body when strapped on. Its large controls are easy to manipulate with gloved hands. The built-in speaker eliminates the earphone of the F2 by amplifying received signals into an audible beep. The indicator lights and volume controls are visible at the same time as you search. The transceiver is easy to get off the body for use in a rescue but, otherwise, nestles firmly against the body thanks to a clever, three-point strap system. And the bayonet mount on one of the straps assures the beacon is turned on as soon as it is strapped to the body--a feature which keeps you from forgetting to turn the unit on (something most of us do from time to time).

The F1 can be purchased in a few different configurations, with the F1 Focus being the most popular. While all F1s can be used to execute a grid search, the indicator lights on the F1 Focus allow practiced users to employ the faster search method of following flux lines to within two meters of a transmitting unit (from here a bracketing technique is used to pinpoint the victim). The lights work in conjunction with the audible beeps and, with practice, you'll learn to interpret both the lights and the amplitude of the beeps to perform very quick searches.

Perhaps the best testimony of the unit's quality, however, is the long list of people (and organizations) who entrust their lives (or the lives of their people) to it. The American Alpine Institute recently gave the F1 their Guides' Choice Award. Meanwhile scores of ski patrollers, heli-ski operations, professional guides, and highway-safety personnel rely on this unit because of its ease of use, durability, and reliability.

PIEPS 457 OPTI-FINDER

In the mid 1970s, the introduction of the Austrian-made Pieps gave North American skiers a better form of avalanche protection than abstinence. As 'Kleenex' became synonymous with facial tissue, 'Pieps' became the word that was synonymous with transceivers.

Twenty-some years later, the field has changed but Pieps is still a major player and their 457 kHz Opti-finder (which is not compatible with the old frequency) is still an excellent transceiver to own.

Much of what was said previously about the F1, applies to the Pieps. Range is similar to the F1, controls are easily handled with gloved hands, the strap system is convenient for carrying and rescue use, the transceiver has a built-in audible speaker, it offers a five-year warranty (as does the F1), it employs indicator lights to perform a search along flux lines, the beacon gives you an indication of battery strength, the cost is the same, and many ski patrollers and numerous heli-ski operations use this beacon.

Whether the Pieps or the Ortovox is a superior unit depends on who you talk to. Talk to representatives of either company and you'd think you'd be crazy to buy anything but their product. Having used and tested both units, each has features I like. The Ortovox controls are easier to read and manipulate as you hold the beacon out in front of you; I also find its indicator lights easier to use when searching along flux lines. However, I prefer the more variable volume control of the Opti-finder and I like how you can almost instantly (and without thought) switch the Pieps from receive mode back into transmit mode if a secondary avalanche threatens your search area. Truth be told, I'm perfectly comfortable using either unit and believe practiced users of either brand can perform a search equally efficiently.

THE TRACKER DTS

The newest kid on the block is the Tracker DTS (Digital Transceiving System), an American-made product with significant points that differentiate it from the F1 and the Opti-finder. First point of difference: The street price of the Ortovox and Pieps is about $50 less than the Tracker DTS.

That extra $50 buys a lot of utility. This unit (which operates on the 457 kHZ frequency and is compatible with all 457 kHz beacons, regardless of make) has three antennas and a microprocessor which triangulate upon a transmitting signal and translate the data into a distance figure between you and the transmitter. The receiving unit also automatically keeps track of the flux line you are following and if you veer off target, lights on the transceiver direct you to turn left or right to stay on the flux line. As you walk you'll see your distance (in meters) to the buried unit drop (if you're moving in the right direction) or increase (if you're headed the wrong way). When you are within 10 meters of the target, the beep amplified through the built-in speaker speeds up. As you continue to hone in, the frequency of beeps continues to accelerate. In truth, the beeps are redundant because the digital distance display, which breaks down distance to tenths of a meter, is the most accurate way to pinpoint the target.

The real beauty of the Tracker DTS is that it takes so little analysis to use--follow the distance reading and the lights telling you to walk left or right and you zero in on the target fast without adjusting volume controls, interpreting signal strength, and without needing to think much. This is a unit that an unsophisticated, unschooled user can actually use effectively with as little as ten minutes of practice. And in timed drills among professional users (ski patrollers and guides) the Tracker shaved 30 to 60 seconds off their search times.

Both the F1 and Opti-finder require more practice and interpretation to master. Unfortunately many skiers don't actually take the time required to truly become fluent in their use, so in rescue situations they waste precious minutes. Consequently, if I owned a Tracker, I'd get in the habit of telling my partners--"Today I'll wear your beacon; you wear THIS one."

The Tracker has a variety of other desirable features. It employs an ergonomic shape and an intelligent strapping system. It automatically switches from receive to transmit mode after five minutes, meaning searchers caught by secondary slides (as happened this year in both British Columbia and Montana) can be found. The beacon also works well for finding multiple burials and has a special mode that isolates individual beacons if multiple readings are confusing the rescuer.

What are the drawbacks of this beacon?

Availability for one. The beacon was announced too soon and orders piled up before the manufacturer was truly geared up to fill those orders. The unit is heavily backordered and it may be a couple months before supply matches demand.

Absence of field data for two. The other units in this review have seen hundreds of thousands of man-hours of use and their controls, reliability, and long-term durability reflect this. The design features and thought that have gone into this Tracker DTS are impressive but whether there are glitches in circuitry, whether the transceiver ventilates properly to eliminate condensation, whether all the components stand up to abuse...these are unknowns.

For more information about the transceivers reviewed in this article, call the following numbers:
* Ortovox USA: 603-746-3176
* PIEPS: 800-443-8620
* Tracker DTS: 800-670-8735