Video of Alaska avalanche accident from victim's viewpoint

I started to watch this and then bottled out and I tend to stick to the pistes - I will make my son watch it though....he has already survived one avalanche that was small but for him almost deadly.

bandit wrote:

Are you inferring that Italian UIAGM's have inferior safety because they don't use this piece of kit?

Had not thought of it that way! Actually, my impression of the European Ski Guides I have met is that they are fantastic skiers and individuals, with a strong focus on safety. I think the problem lies with a lack of awareness about how useful self-arrest grips are. Am I missing something?

I don't see anybody in the US using them either - except me. Self-arrest grips have saved my life once and helped me avoid nasty injury several more times. So, I would like to hear why most BC skiers do not use them.

Anyone who has a story about sliding a long ways in a fall and being injured should be using these grips(IMO). What about all those who have died without the grips? How many lives could have been saved?

When I have the grips it is much easier for me to relax and focus when the going gets tough on scrubbed out chutes or big firm faces with cliffs below. Being relaxed helps anyone ski better - always a good thing.

95% of the time I ski on-piste and 99% in Europe so that may account for it - but I have never seen or heard of self-arrest grips like that before, not even seen them for sale. I think there is a lot less off-piste skiing in Europe than in the States and Canada, partly for reasons of culture, partly for legal reasons, partly due to less favourable conditions perhaps. I can certainly understand the utility of the self-arrest grips in the situations you descibe, but guess there may be a safety trade-off with them - in the sense that it might not be too hard to stab/cut yourself with one of those by mistake if you crash ? Worse still if caught in an avalanche perhaps?

It brings tears to watch this and a definate respect for the backcountry!