LVS-Gerät

Most of the avalanche transceiver and airbag manufacturers were not represented at the virtual ISPO. Ortovox presented a talking avalanche transceiver at the same time as but not "at" ISPO. ABS announced a new release mechanism for airbags for 21/22 and Black Diamond presented an avalanche transceiver similar to the Pieps Micro in Black Diamond colors. There was little else new to report in this area of equipment.

Mammut offers a firmware upgrade for Barryvox and Barryvox S avalanche transceivers: BarryHeart 3.4. The upgrade can be carried out in service centers or from device to device if the new firmware has already been installed on a device.

Following an accident involving pro rider Nick McNutt, whose avalanche transceiver failed to transmit in an avalanche, Pieps and Black Diamond are calling on users to regularly check the functions of their avalanche transceivers, including all mechanical parts. In particular, you should check the switches of the latest generation of DSP Pro and Sport, see photo on the right. The older (DSP Pro, old version) and newer models ("BT") have different switches.

The large, long-established Pieps LVS Pro BT and Powder BT (formerly DSP Pro and Sport) now have siblings: The little twins Micro BT Sensor and Micro BT Button. As the names suggest, the two differ in terms of sensor and button operation. The inner workings of the Micro BT Sensor and Micro BT Button are otherwise identical. We took a closer look at the BT Button.

When it comes to safety equipment, not only the avalanche transceiver is important, but also the probe and shovel. Good equipment is available from many suppliers. The important thing is that you like the way it handles and that you get on well with it. As we all know, rescuing your comrades in an emergency is crucial for survival and every second counts.

BCA and ARVA will each be launching a new avalanche transceiver next season, although these are more likely to be overhauled versions of familiar models than fundamentally new inventions. The various airbag systems remain unchanged and are merely packaged in new colors. The only completely new feature appears to be a microwave scanner that records "snow profiles".

With the new Evo 5, the safety specialists from Arva in France are launching a new avalanche transceiver on the market for the current season that packs all the essential features into an extremely small and lightweight housing.

Since last season, Black Diamond has had two re-labelled Pieps avalanche transceivers in its range: the Guide BT and the Reckon BT. The BD Guide BT corresponds to the Pieps Pro BT, the BD Reckon BT to the Pieps Powder BT. Guide/Pro and Reckon/Powder are the successors to the Pieps DSP Pro and Pieps DSP Sport respectively, i.e. the "top model" in the line-up (Guide/Pro) and the slightly slimmed-down, cheaper version (Reckon/Powder/Sport). The BD devices differ from the Pieps models only in colour.

In the past, avalanche transceivers had a relatively simple design. You could switch them on and off and switch from transmit to search mode. At some point, the marking function was added and numerous other functions have since been introduced. No wonder, when you think about the fact that a standard smartphone now probably has more computing power than a mainframe computer in the 1990s.

The Arva NEO+ is a further development of the NEO series with even better performance. Thanks to a new hardware basis and optimisation of the software, the search strip width has been increased to 70 m.

In the field of avalanche safety, ISPO 2019 was rather restrained in terms of major innovations. Some manufacturers revised existing products, changed minor details or added individual models to the existing product range. Spectacular innovations were largely absent (again this year).

Anyone who spends any time in the snowy mountains and therefore in potentially dangerous terrain should regularly deal with the topic of rescue and recovery. I myself pack my backpack before the start of winter, check the equipment for wear/function and fit the avalanche transceiver with new batteries (lithium ions). Then I meet up with friends to practise, exchange ideas and learn new things.