Proper Signal Aids Efforts Of Rescuers Standard For Avalanche Beacons Switched To More Powerful

Is your Pieps a keeper?

Is your Ortovox obsolete?

In other words, is your backcountry transceiver up-to-date enough to save your life?

Chances are you’re not as safe as you used to be if your avalanche beacon is an older model that operates on the 2.275 kilohertz frequency instead of 457 kHz, experts said.

Many of the region’s ski patrols and rescue teams are switching to new beacons that work only on the 457 frequency.

“The 457 is a stronger signal and more accepted world wide,” said Rick Price of the Schweitzer Mountain Resort ski patrol. However, unlike some rescue professionals in Utah, who have made a total switch to the 457 frequency, Schweitzer patrollers are still phasing in the change.

“We still use both because our clientele has lagged behind the trend,” said Rick Price of the Schweitzer ski patrol. “Since it isn’t mandatory to have the 457 units, some people haven’t done it.”

Transceivers are considered essential equipment for skiers and snowboarders who venture into the backcountry or outside boundaries of maintained ski areas.

“I wish everybody would throw away those old units,” Price said. “It would be a lot safer if we knew everybody had the new frequency. But after spending a couple hundred bucks, people want to hold onto the old ones.”

A transceiver, or beacon, is a transistor radio-sized device people wear when doing backcountry sports such as skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and snowshoeing. It emits a radio signal and also can be switched to receive one.

When a person wearing a transceiver is caught in a snowslide, rescuers flip the switches that allow their beacons to receive the signal. They can then zero in on the signal the victim’s beacon is emitting.

Historically, the transceivers sold in the United States and Canada were tuned to 2.275 kHz, while those sold in European countries were tuned to 457 kHz.

About six years ago, national ski patrol groups decided it would be safer and easier if everyone was tuned into the same frequency, so they chose the stronger of the two. Transceiver companies have been phasing in the ones that use 457 kHz and phasing out the old ones.

People who play in the backcountry should seriously consider spending the $220 to $250 for a transceiver with the new frequency.

Brian Mecham, manager of Black Diamond stores in Ogden and Salt Lake City, recalled two customers who spent a lot of time asking questions about a new Pieps transceiver but balked at his store’s $225 price tag.

“I asked, ‘How much does your ski gear cost?’ And they said, ‘We don’t ski. We snowmobile.’ And I’m thinking, you’ll pay $5,000 for a snowmobile, but you won’t spend $200 for a transceiver?” Mecham said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Transceivers typically have an earphone for listening to the beeps, but some of the new models have built-in speakers so people don’t have to fumble with the earphone. Some also have lights - for about $20 more - that show rescuers whether they are getting closer to the victim.

Companies don’t make the 2.275 models anymore. For the past couple of years, they made transceivers that operated on both frequencies, but 1995 was the last year of production for those.

Studies have shown that the single-frequency 457 beacons have a signal distance of about 60 meters (about 197 feet) compared with the dual-frequency beacon signal distance of 50 meters (about 164 feet).

Those are theoretical distances. In use, beacon users are told to expect a range of 40 percent of those figures.

There’s a 20 percent to 30 percent chance that an avalanche will kill a person on impact, and there’s never been a live recovery deeper than 6 feet in the United States, experts say.

But transceivers still improve chances for a live recovery if an avalanche occurs.

, DataTimes