some sobering thought on the Whitefish avi

He's right, and I don't recall any media reports stating that these people were out of bounds WITHOUT AVALANCHE GEAR. did anyone read the report (toronto star maybe?) that said the big white avalanche was 4km?

I agree with the point that if people are skiing in 'uncontrolled' terrain they should carry the proper rescue equipment...

But I think his other point is a bit strange, that the purpose of the transceiver is to rescue the people that "you put in danger" and bury when "you" trigger a slide... Honestly, I don't wear my beacon out of consideration for 'other' skiers that I 'might' accidentally catch in an avalanche. If there's any risk of burying 'other' skiers, my beacon is hardly enough insurance to make that risk worth taking, know what I mean. It's for me and my party -- to be self-contained and as safe as possible. In other words; I can't imagine that I would ever ski a slope when other skiers were in the slide path below, transciever or not.

At the end of the day, what IS a transciever, really?? It's a last-ditch rescue device so if me or my friends are caught we're only "probably dead" instead of "definitely dead"...

But the guy's got a point -- all those guys out there with no beacons... condolences to the family and friends.... :cry: