Sign up to receive this in your email
(No more than once daily, often less depending on the amount of new news.)

2025 Archive Index - All Editions

Supercapacitors for Avalanche Airbags

Battery-powered fan airbags can be deployed many times over for as much practice as you want, but then you’re lugging around several pounds of lithium-ion battery in the mountains. Batteries—like compressed air cylinders—can also cause transportation authority headaches with flying, so you need to read up on your airline’s policy before packing it for that trip to Japan. A new option is the technology avalanche airbags have been waiting for — supercapacitors. These handy electrodes can’t store anywhere near as much charge as a battery, but they can charge and discharge much faster. Avalanche airbags only need one sudden burst of current to fill the bag. Systems like Alpride can then recharge the supercapacitors with a USB cable at home or a couple of AA batteries in the field. All at a weight in your pack that makes sense for ski-tourers. If you’re in the market for an airbag and haven’t cleaned out the bank account on bike stuff already, the best price I’ve seen is under $500 for a canister-style and just over $1,400 for an Alpride-equipped supercapacitor bag. It doesn’t get much cheaper than that buying from a retailer.
Source ... (Pique)

Mont Dore avalanche revisited (France)

In February 2024, two groups of climbers were caught in an avalanche at Mont-Dore, in the Puy-de-Dôme region. It was the deadliest avalanche in Auvergne in 50 years. France Television have returned to the events that killed four people and left one injured. That day, Gaétan, his cousin Eric, and their guide David Vigouroux, were training for a future Mont-Blanc ascent. Despite poor weather conditions—thick fog, wind, and falling snow—they decided to proceed. They climbed towards a ridge near Puy Redon, where they met the other group. Suddenly, a slab of snow broke loose. Gaétan, at the back, was struck by his cousin and swept away without even realizing it was an avalanche at first. Gaétan was buried under 70 cm of snow. Managing to free his arm and head, he stayed trapped for over an hour. His cousin didn’t survive. Rescue teams, alerted by two climbers who had stayed behind, arrived and saved Gaétan and a woman suffering from hypothermia. Four bodies were recovered, including Eric and the guide. Though deeply marked by the tragedy, Gaétan continues to hike and ski, but only on marked trails. He returned to the avalanche site as a form of therapy but has abandoned his dream of climbing Mont-Blanc.

The PisteHors link (source) has the France Television report from youtube (in French) and a link the the original PisteHors report on the incident at the time it happened.
More ... (PisteHors)

Hikers Survive 2 Avalanches in French Pyrenees

Two young brothers from Bordeaux, France, narrowly escaped tragedy on Thursday after being swept away by two successive avalanches while hiking above Lake Estom, near Cauterets in the French Pyrenees. The pair, both in their twenties, were not equipped for winter weather and lacked avalanche detection gear, according to rescue officials. The brothers were experienced summer hikers but underestimated the dangers of spring conditions in the high mountains. “At this time, spring snow is particularly unstable,” the rescue chief explained, warning that avalanches are more likely during the warmest hours of the day.

The incident occurred at over 6,500 feet (2,000 meters), where spring snow remains unstable. The brothers, who had set out for a multi-day trek, were caught first by a slide that dragged them several dozen meters. Before rescuers could arrive, a second avalanche struck. “It is a miracle that they remained on the surface and are still alive,” said the head of the CRS Pyrénées-Gavarnie mountain rescue post.
More ... (Snowbrains)