Prevention

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Put to the Test ABS vs. AVALANCHE BALL

The Scene Disentis/Switzerland 2008
The Scene Davos/Switzerland 2001
The Scene Davos/Switzerland 1995
The Scene Tauplitz/Austria 1999

Comments on the numerous avalanche tests

	The Scene Disentis/Switzerland 2008 Avalanche test A 85 kg crashtest dummy used for automotive applications was outfitted with an AVALANCHE BALL. Another dummy was equipped with an ABSAirbag. Then, both dummies were flown to the avalanche area by helicopter.
	An avalanche of about 80m in width and about 200m in length was triggered by an explosive charge.
	Video
	In the accumulation area where both dummies ended up getting buried, the depth of the avalanche was about 1.5 m. Yet, the dummy using the AVALANCHE BALL was buried only a few centimeters deep. In fact, its face (Gesicht Dummy Lawinenball) still protruded from the snow.
	Result: AVALANCHE BALL As observed in all tests and in real-life use, the AVALANCHE BALL was again clearly visible at the surface, downhill from the buried person. Even if the face of the dummy had not been visible, one would have gotten to the buried person within seconds simply by pulling out the rope cord. The rescuers were able to extricate the dummy from the snow in a matter of only 2 minutes.
	Result: ABS Double Airbag As observed in previous avalanche tests conducted in 1995 and 2001(*), again the ABS airbag was not able to keep the person (dummy) from being buried. Only one balloon of the ABS double airbag remained visible at the surface. The second balloon of the double airbag was fully buried by the avalanche, together with the dummy. The dummy's head was below the balloons, at a depth of about 40 cm.
	Also in the case of the ABS airbag, the advantage was that it provided a visible clue. This way, the buried person could be located and dug out immediately. Owing to the different specific weights of humans and balloons, the person will generally be underneath the balloons.
	Conclusion: After the avalanche stopped moving, both systems were clearly visible from far away. In cases of emergency, they offer an enormous time advantage over training-intensive transceiver-based search methods. In both cases, locating the victim's position visually helped minimize stress and save valuable time.

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The Scene Davos/Switzerland 2001

In March 2001, a major test has been organised in Davos by Eid. Institutes für Schnee- und Lawinenforschung (SLF/ CH.), Land Tirol (Sportabteilung) OEAV and DAV. An interesting aspect was revealed by measuring and comparing the depths of the dummies wearing different avalanche safety systems.

	Avalanche test 13 crashtest dummy (85 kg) used for automotive applications was outfitted with 4 ABS-Airbags 2 AVALANCHE BALLS 4 Trancaivers 3 avagear. Then, all dummies were flown to the avalanche area by helicopter.
	An avalanche of about 100m in width and about 400m in length was triggered by an explosive charge.
	Result: 4 Dummys with transceivers 1. LVS - Dummy completely buried 30 cm 2. LVS - Dummy completely buried 50 cm 3. LVS - Dummy completely buried 150 cm (visible) 4. LVS - Dummy partly buried 20 cm (low deposit depth)
	Result: 4 inflated ABS airbags: 1. ABS airbag dummy completely buried 50 cm 2. ABS airbag dummy completely buried 60 cm 3. ABS airbag dummy completely buried 50 cm 4. ABS AIRBAG -Dummy not buried (low deposit depth) Video 4,66mb
	Internal comment provided by the SLF (Swiss Institute for Snow Science and Avalanche Research) when asked to what extent the ABS avalanche airbag was able to keep a person from being buried: »As far as we know, the ABS airbag acts as a visual locating aid that is visible from far away. This is the result obtained in our test series conducted from 1995 to 2001 and from the data collected in connection with avalanche accidents involving persons using ABS airbags«.
	The 1. Avalanche ball dummy was fully buried (just 25 cm). The Ball was perfectly visible.
	The Avalanche ball Dummy was recovered within 2 minutes.
	The 2. Avalanche ball dummy was completely buried 80 cm in spite of snow afterflow.The Ball was perfectly visible. The Dummy was recovered within 5 minutes. The SLF says: „The Avalanche ball proved as an uncomplicated, intuitive and easy to handle means of locating victims, allowing a simple and fast recovery of the completely buried dummies equipped with the system.“

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The Scene Davos/Switzerland 1995

08. 01. 1995: 1. Test with 1 ABS-Dummy

The ABS-Ballon get lost in the avalanche. The ABS-Dummy was fully buried.

04. 01. 1995: 2. Test with 3 ABS-Dummys

All 3 ABS-Dummys were completely buried in spite of snow afterflow. The dummy's heads were below the balloons, at a depth of about 100cm.

10. 03. 1995: 3.Test with 7 ABS-Dummys

1 ABS-Dummys was not buried. But only 0-10 cm avalanche deepnees!

1 ABS-Dummys was buried, just head on the surface.
1 ABS-Dummys were buried, head on the surface, but the Airbag had no air in the ballon.

4 ABS-Dummys were completely buried

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The Scene Tauplitz/Austria 1999

3 Dummys with Avalanche ball

	An avalanche of about 60m in width and about 250m in length was triggered by an explosive charge.
	The 3 AVALANCHE BALLs was again clearly visible at the surface downhill from the buried person.
	On the one hand, the major part of the rope cord remained at the surface up to the immediate burying point.
	On the other hand, because of its special configuration and its small diameter (4mm), the remaining cord can be pulled out easily, even out of densely packed snow (accumulation area!). In the area close to the person, the cord acts like a probe. This way, it automatically pinpoints the position of the buried person, right after the avalanche has stopped moving!
	Start digging here immediately until you find the buried person who is normally relatively close to the surface (statistics!). Never before was »saving lives« so easy...
Comments on the numerous avalanche tests
Dr. Dipl. Ing. P. Höller: generally sworn and legally certified expert for avalanche accidents »Avalanche testing has shown that the AVALANCHE BALL was at the surface in all cases, which tremendously expedited the process of locating the buried dummies«.
Institute for Snow Science and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos/Switzerland »The avalanche balls proved to be uncomplicated and intuitive locating aids allowing us to efficiently and smoothly locate and extricate the entirely buried dummies that had been equipped with them«.
*D. Stopper, German Alpine Association DAV* / Safety Group** »Locating the two dummies using the "Avalanche Ball" was easy, as the balls continued to be visible at the surface. The cord led us directly to the buried dummies«.
*(Austrian Alpine Association - OeAV) Berg & Steigen* »Both Avalanche Balls were clearly visible at the surface. It was quite easy to pull the 6 meter rope cord out from the densely packed snow. The Avalanche Ball (...) permits the easy, visual locating of buried persons, thereby dramatically shortening total rescue times«.
H. Riedl / Safety officer for the province of Tyrol, mountain guide instructor of the Austrian Alpine Association »One thing is certain: this system works! Using it, one can literally pulverize previous search time records«.