This article by Utah Avalanche Center’s, Bruce Tremper, shines some light on the truth about Avalanche Airbags. Anyone Who Skis The Backcountry Should Read This!
Avalanche Airbag Effectiveness – Something Closer to the Truth
This winter I noticed a magazine advertisement for an avalanche airbag pack that claimed “A 97 percent success rate in real world conditions.” What the advertisement didn’t mention was that people caught WITHOUT an avalanche airbag have an 80 – 90 percent success rate. In other words, most people caught in an avalanche will get a cheap lesson; they will either escape off the slab, grab a tree, dig into the bed surface, ride on top of the debris, it will be a small avalanche that wouldn’t burry them anyway, they could be saved by a beacon recovery or they could just get lucky. Most people caught in an avalanche will survive, which is very good news for all of us.
It’s like the example my college statistics professor presented in which Sanka advertised their decaf coffee as “97 percent caffeine free.” What they didn’t tell you was that regular coffee is 90 percent caffeine free. This, no doubt, sells much more coffee than saying that their decaf coffee has one-third the caffeine as regular coffee, which is much less misleading.
Keep reading at utahavalanchecenter.org
A 16% increase sounds pretty good to me.
97% still sounds good as well.
The question is does the 16% increase cloud your judgement enough to talk ur brain into skiing a line that you wouldnt of skied without an airbag? thereby negating its effectiveness ?
Good point
16% is worth it if your as cool as me. But id like to know the success rates of alpine vs. gladed/rocky areas. If trauma is not a big issue then these things are amazing.
16% higher than if you wouldn’t have worn the airbag. The BC is dangerous. I’ll take all the tools I can get if it means not dying.
Alternatively, airbag equals a 3% chance of dying by avalanche, no airbag equals 19% chance.. so no airbag increases your chance of dying by 6 times.. sound better?.. statistics schmatistics..
A increase of six times would be a 600% increase in probability. A 16% increase of survival would be a .16 times better chance of surviving. Go back to junior high you fucking tard.
Yobrobra, it is an 600% increase or 6x better. With an airbag you will die 3 out of every 100 avys you’re caught in. Without an air bag you will have more than a 6 times greater odds of death (19 out of every 100 avys you’re in you will die). That’s a lot of death. I don’t think anyone has time to die that many times. Wear an airbag.
No need for the name calling here. And if you are going to do it you should probably ensure you are correct in your logic.
Six times as many people die without an airbag. That is a compelling correlation.
The green bar on the left is irrelevant because you are going to survive anyway. So while the 97% number may be misleading, we should still care about anything that makes a big difference in the “going to die” category.
Based on these stats if 100 people without a bag get caught in an avalanche 19 will die. If they all had bags 3 would die. So your chances of surviving are better than 6x higher with a bag. Seems like a bag is a great idea (assuming you don’t put yourself into more dangerous terrain because you have one).
Your college statistics professor would tell you, assuming stable data, that the difference is statistically significant and your chance of survival is much better with an airbag. According to your data, 10-20% of those caught in avalanche without an airbag will die. With an airbag, the number drops to 3%. So, your chance of dying is anywhere from 3-7x greater without an airbag. A HUGE difference.
Sounds like you should take my statistics class for me.
I would like to see some published data supporting 81% survival rate for people caught in an avalanche, and I would also like to see data comparing the injuries of those with and without airbags.
I rock the BCA Float 32…I hate how top heavy it is and am honestly about to sell it… I’ll continue to be a responsible backcountry user, dig pits, keep informed on forecasts and note anything that shouts out SKETCH! Knowledge and the abiltiy to say no will save you 100% of the time…
The “97 percent success rate” you speak of is in real world conditions. I will take a 16% increase with airbags. lance lied and cheated and only gained single percentages of an advantage which is what gave hime the edge to win, even if it was illegal. these numbers are from 2007 and 6 years ago avy airbags were pretty uncommon. How do you figure “Got Lucky” into these statistics? What would the numbers say if every person had and deployed an airbag. ALL Avalanche tools are reactive tools. The most important Avalanche tool is a proactive one which is the most important tool of all and that is using your Brain to stay out of an avalanche while still be able to ski steep and dangerous terrain when conditions permit.
The added weight of an airbag pack could set off an avalanche that would not have triggered without the additional weight of the pack. Think about that. I’ll take my chances, until the weight and price come down. And don’t think about responding with “how much is your life worth”. I agree with this article, and think airbag packs aren’t as cool as you think they are.
Harry…that is retarded, an extra pound in the pack might cause an avy? If your worried about carrying a few extra pounds in fear of the slope sliding you should think about talking to a mental health pro.
Is your life worth a few hundred bucks or at least spending a bit more on veggies instead of beer? That’ll bring down your weight and maybe give you the margin you need to ski those slopes that will take 200lbs, but not 203.
WTF
Good job. You made a lot of people less stupid today with stats.
I don’t think that what they’re saying is misleading. If you bought an airbag under the assumption that without it you would definitely die you’re being a moron. But if you bought one to increase you chances of survival to an astounding 97% percent, you’re being smart…
Or like Chip said: with an airbag you have a 3% chance of dying if you’re caught in an avalanche, without it you’re 6 to 7 times more likely. F*ck it, I’ll take the airbag.
Great. Tell people they have 80% total survivability if they head out into ANY scenario. You wanna talk about statistics and averages? This is the most retarded avalanche airbag misinformation I have ever read. Don’t listen to this crappy article. Most people can’t infer what these stats mean. Most of the Bruger et al. articles are based on open terrain European statistics. Not enough data exists to make any claims whatsoever in North America.
But still, the best tool is taking an avi class…
Dead is dead and you get no hindsight
Wait…
When did the train leave Denver?
How much dirt is in the hole?
I’m confused
Word problems.
can’t afford an airbag pack.
I choose to use my brain and the other tools I have gained the past 10 years in the backcountry.
The real question is what’s the increased survival rate w a beacon vs an airbag. Beacon’s are considered standard safety protocol, but it’s not clear to me that they increase survival rates as much as airbags.
You are diff. more inclined to ride the GNAR, when you have a safety banquet, like a airbag.