In the avalanche trial, fully buried dummies with the ball were located and recovered without problems. SLF describes the balls as uncomplicated and intuitive locating aids. One dummy was buried up to 150 cm deep, the ball stayed visible and the recovery was complete after 5 minutes.
Two 85 kg dummies, one with an Avalanche Ball, one with an ABS airbag, were caught in an avalanche triggered by explosives. The dummy with the ball was buried only a few centimetres deep, its face was sticking out. The ABS dummy lay 40 cm deep, its balloon was visible. Both systems could be seen from far away.
The balls were clearly visible on the surface and locating was easy. The line led straight to the buried dummies.
All three balls were visible from far away, two dummies fully and one partly buried. The line stayed on the surface, time-consuming searching was not needed. Digging out took only a few minutes.
The test was whether the ball can evade follow-up avalanches. Thanks to the 6 m line, all three balls stayed visible.
The trials on video
Footage from the avalanche trials, including the direct comparison with the ABS airbag.
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What experts say
Comments on the avalanche trials, translated from German.
The avalanche trials showed that the Avalanche Ball lay on the surface in every case, which allowed the buried dummies to be located quickly.
Dr. Dipl.-Ing. P. Höller, expert witness for avalanche accidents
The avalanche balls proved to be uncomplicated and intuitive locating aids.
SLF Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, Davos
Locating the two dummies was easy because the balls were clearly visible on the surface. The line led straight to the buried dummies.
D. Stopper, German Alpine Club safety team
The 6 metre line could easily be pulled out of the densely packed snow. The avalanche ball cuts total recovery time drastically.
Austrian Alpine Club, Berg & Steigen
It is clear that this system works! It makes it possible to pulverise search times.
H. Riedl, safety officer of the State of Tyrol and Austrian Alpine Club instructor team
Award-winning
- Invention of the YearORF science programme "Modern Times"
- No. 1 at the ISPO BrandNew AwardSports hardware category, ISPO Munich
- Second-best product at ISPOAward by a ski magazine
- Best snow sports product of the yearThe Times, UK
- Dietmar Eybl Innovation Awardfor safety in the mountains
- Innovation Award, Product of the Future 2007/08awarded by SPORTS e.V.
- Eduard Wallnöfer Recognition Awardfor research and study projects
- Tyrolean Young Entrepreneur Awardfor developing a life-saving system