Thank you for sharing the two links. I had heard a little on the news this morning and the idea of losing (and then finding deceased) friends like that was sobering. I had wondered statistically how many people could possibly survive a tremendous avalanche, and how much good modern technology would really be. I likened it to what I've heard about CPR, that oftentimes it is more comforting to the family of the deceased that people tried. Another thing, how do probes actually go into avy-compacted snow? I also wondered about the costs of this potentially life saving equipment and in the case of beacons, thinking at least it helps recover the remains before snowmelt. We just don't have to give these scenarios much though in the east, do we.
A new friend from the Seattle area, who we met last summer while enjoying Rainier, was caught in a small avalanche in early winter, but that's the closest I've come to thinking about it. He's a back country enthusiast, so now I want to write him to learn more about what he and his friends think about when venturing out.
P.S. on my first Rainier attempt, we all wore beacons and were not even allowed out of Muir hut to go to the bathroom without them. (Mine wasn't working and the guides were not overly concerned about getting me one that was and I went out wearing it as a piece of "jewelry" -- feeling like a rebel.)
