PIEPS

An essential part of any ski touring or freeride equipment is the avalanche transceiver. It is well known that this was not the case at the beginning of the 1970s, when the first avalanche transceivers came onto the market. With the MINI IPS, PIEPS is launching a very compact avalanche transceiver onto the market this winter, which you can win here.

The danger of avalanches accompanies us winter sports enthusiasts, but modern equipment such as avalanche airbag backpacks can significantly improve the chances of survival in an emergency. Various scientific studies have investigated how effective avalanche airbags actually are. In a study on the effectiveness of avalanche airbags by Haegeli et al. (2014)[1], it was found that an inflated airbag can prevent around half of all fatalities in avalanche victims caught in an avalanche of size 2 or larger. The non-deployment rate found is 20% and is therefore the limiting factor of the airbag.

PIEPS GmbH announces a voluntary recall for the PIEPS PRO IPS avalanche transceiver. The reason is a possible battery contact problem.

Pieps/Black Diamond is calling for a functional check to be carried out on most of the current avalanche transceivers it produces:

At the first edition of the "Futuresymposium Wintersport" last week, new products from selected manufacturers were presented and trends and developments in the scene were highlighted in a variety of panel discussions and presentations. The event largely took place virtually and the PG team followed the more interesting contributions on screen.

After a wide-ranging discussion about the locking mechanism on some Pieps avalanche transceivers at the beginning of the season, an exchange program was initially introduced. Now users of the affected models are called upon to contact Pieps in order to receive an improved carrying system for their 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.

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 contrast to many large manufacturers of skis, ski boots and bindings, the avalanche transceiver and airbag manufacturers were all represented at ISPO. When it comes to avalanche transceivers, there are small to medium improvements rather than huge innovations, and with the exception of Scott/Alpride, hardly anything significant has changed in terms of airbags.

With the Jetforce airbag system, the two companies Black Diamond and Pieps have developed the first avalanche airbag system that is inflated by a nozzle instead of compressed air or gas. This is powered by a rechargeable electronic system, which has a number of advantages.

At first glance, the Pieps Pro+ shovel is a standard avalanche shovel of a slightly larger type. The telescopic handle locks into place with the familiar "push-button system" and is 81 cm long when extended. The shovel blade is 25cm wide (=relatively large). The special feature: A saw is hidden in the shovel handle.