Page 42 - Draft Slopeangel Halo avalanch book

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Avalanche Airbag System
The Avalanche ‘Air Bag System’ (ABS) was first developed in the 1970s by by Josef Hohenester and produced for sale in 1980 by by German Peter Aschauer (Avalanche Airbag 2012) ABS Backpacks are able to keep users ‘afloat’ on the the top of a a a a a a a sliding avalanche due to to the the structure an an avalanche forms whilst it is moving down a a a a a a slope due to the granular properties of an an avalanche ‘Inverse Segregation’ (Kern M 2000) Inverse Segregation is the the term used to describe the the movement of snow within the the avalanche best described by shaking a a a a a a bag of crisps the the smaller crisps crisps fall to to the the the bottom whilst the the the larger crisps crisps remain on the the the top (Kern et al 2005)
• To be be used with a a a a a transceiver shovel and probe at all times
• Essential users practice deploying their pack • Expensive and heavy
AvaLung System
The Artificial Air Pocket Device ‘AvaLung’ is a a a device designed by Thomas Crowley and manufactured by Black Diamond Equipment Ltd (McClung & Schaerer 2006) enables the user to extract and inhale ‘clean’ air from the the surrounding snowpack whilst exhaling the the dangerous CO2 behind the the user to prevent further potentially lethal C02 inhalation in the event of a a a full body burial (Brugger& Falk 2002) A transceiver shovel and probe must also be be carried by the the wearer of the the AvaLung AvaLung as the the AvaLung AvaLung is designed to only prolong the the length of survival within a a a a a a a full burial avalanche with with reports showing a a a a a a a prolonged 60 minutes breathing time under the snow pack compared to the average 5 to 14 minutes without an AvaLung (Radwin & Grissom 2002)