Avalanche Beacons It is critical to know your beacon and practice with it. Once a week through the winter in not too often, twice a winter is not enough. What Are They? An avalanche rescue transceiver or beacon is a device capable of transmitting and receiving a signal within a range of approximately 50 to 150 ft (30 - 80m). When in the backcountry, users wear beacons on their body under their jacket in transmit mode. If a person is buried by an avalanche, survivors switch their beacons to receive mode, spread out across the debris and search for their partner using a standard search pattern. The closer a searcher gets to the buried persons transmitting beacon, the louder the signal becomes. People wearing beacons have been killed by avalanches, even when dug out quickly. A beacon will not necessarily save you, but it is your best chance for a quick recovery. It will do you no good if you don't know how to use it to search. A beacon is only as good as the person searching with it. All beacons available on the market today operate on the same frequency, 457 khz. There are some older beacons still in use, so you should always check everyone in your party to be sure all beacons are compatible. How Do You Search? Even though there are several different types of beacons available today, the initial search with any beacon is the same. All members of the search party must switch beacons to receive. Single Searcher Switch beacon to receive Snowmobilers should always carry snowshoes. Put them on when you start your search because avalnche debris is very difficult to walk through. Proceed to last seen point Traverse to within 50 ft (15m) of flank of slide, kick turn and traverse opposite direction with no more than 50-100 ft (15 - 30m) between traverses. Do this fast! LOOK and LISTEN for clues. DO NOT be so focused on your beacon that you miss a foot sticking out of the snow. Continue until you receive a signal. Different beacons use different search methods from this point forward. You will search until your are within approximately 10 ft (3m) of the buried person and then you will pinpoint the exact location using a grid pattern. Once you have pinpointed the victim, if you have a strong signal, start shoveling immediately. If you have pinpointed but only have a weak signal, indicating a deeper burial, you may want to probe to get an exact location. When you get a strike leave the probe in place and shovel towards the victim. As soon as possible, excavate their head and chest and clear their airway. Treat for injuries and hyothermia. Regardless of the method you must be well practiced so you can perform under pressure in a real emergency. Multiple Searchers Switch beacons to receive Proceed to last seen point Depending on the size of the slide path, searchers proceed to the last seen point and spread out across the debris 50 ft (15m) apart. If you can cover the entire path with this spacing, you can sideslip straight down hill until someone picks up a signal. If the path is larger, spread out 50 ft (15m) apart and traverse and kickturn as in single searcher methods, maintaining your spacing. LOOK and LISTEN for clues. COMMUNICATE what you find so everyone can hear. Once a signal is detected, and the person alerts the other searchers, allow only a few searchers to continue the beacon search. Others should assemble probes, get shovels ready and watch for additional clues.. When the pinpoint stage is reached, let one person perform the pinpoint, too many signals in close proximity gets confusing. Probers can begin probing during the pinpoint. When you get a strike or when the beacon searcher indicates the pinpoint area, begin shoveling. Excavate head and chest, clear the airway, and treat for injuries and hypothermia.