Beacons get all the glory. They’re expensive, tech-packed pieces of gear that backcountry users covet for finding partners and getting found. But shovels and shoveling deserve more credit. After all, when avalanche debris sets up like concrete, and your partner is buried deeply, your job doesn’t stop at pinpointing them with a fine search and a probe strike. Here’s a video of how to dig safe and dig fast. For more excavation techniques, check out the January issue of Backcountry.
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DOUG STOUP: THE ICEMAN
From playing NCAA soccer to a successful modeling and acting career to being the top polar explorer of his time, Doug Stoup is an enigma. Host Adam Howard recently journeyed to Antarctica with Stoup and their conversation ranges from Doug’s personal training of A-list Hollywood actors to near death experiences; adventures with Doug Coombs; and taking novice skiers to the South Pole.
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TELE MIKE RUSSELL: TURNS FOR ALL
Tele Mike Russell grew up as a sharecropper’s son in Delaware before attending college and becoming an executive in the pharmaceutical industry. Then he watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center and decided he’d better follow another path, this one to skiing in Colorado, where he’d go on to find a family in the National Brotherhood of Skiers and help found its backcountry program.
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ERIC BLEHM: MEET YOUR HEROES
Eric Blehm’s roots in snowboarding run deep. He started riding during the sport’s infancy, and after college became an editor at Transworld SNOWboarding Magazine. Years later, he was in a lift line when a fellow rider saw the “Craig Kelly is my Co-Pilot” sticker on his board, and asked Blehm: “Who is Craig Kelly?” He was floored by the notion that there were snowboarders out there who didn’t know who Craig was. And this inspired him to write The Darkest White.
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gOOD STUFF, people need to watch more things like this instead of people hucking sick air. The Text in the beginning went by too quickly to read the first time. With the 5 shoveler scenario I assume you can’t really expect a uniform rotation and they just figure people will tap out when ever and the 5 th person is always ready to relieve?
Thank you. We Employ two way radios in our treks. In a traverse of potential avalanche terrain, a single person crosses then radios completion. This increases the opportunity for max persons available for rescue if required. Always vigilant.
A very informative video. It certainly illustrates how important it is to practice good shoveling techniques. Is it possible to look at shoveling techniques for burials on flat ground or when someone is caught at the bottom of a terrain trap. In these cases using the slope to your advantage may not be possible.