The woman and her partner had been snowshoeing to a backcountry cabin when the slide hit, swept her 150 meters downhill and trapped her under 1.5 meters of debris in a narrow, hard-to-reach gully. The backcountry traveler caught in the slide was not wearing a transceiver even though the avalanche danger in the surrounding mountains was rated considerable on the international scale that day.

Luckily her partner was not caught and placed a cell phone call to police, who then deployed Mountain Rescue of Hinterstein. Two rescuers equipped with an avalanche dog and a RECCOŽ detector were immediately transported to the accident scene by helicopter, ahead of a rapidly approaching storm and descending darkness. After a 15-minute search, the buried woman was located with the RECCO detector, pinpointed with probes and subsequently dug out alive and conscious. Three hours after the slide, she was transported by military rescue helicopter to a nearby hospital where she has since recovered from the ordeal.

Even though RECCO has been globally adopted by ski resorts and is utilized often as a method of off-piste avalanche rescue, this successful recovery occurred far removed from the nearest ski slope. A convergence of factors led to the successful utilization of this technology in the backcountry, including cell phone coverage in the incident area, a rapid air-based rescue response and a buried victim who was detectable by the avalanche rescue system, which is able to pinpoint RECCOŽ reflectors integrated into commercially available ski wear, boots and protection gear. More specific details about the avalanche incident can be learned by contacting Magnus Granhed, RECCO founder and CEO, at magnus.granhed@recco.com.

About RECCOŽ Avalanche Rescue System

RECCOŽ is an avalanche rescue system utilized by 440 organizations worldwide to assist in the efficient location of burials. RECCOŽ enables rapid directional pinpointing of a victim’s precise location using harmonic radar. The two-part system consists of a RECCOŽ detector used by organized rescue groups, and RECCOŽ reflectors that are integrated into commercially available products. Although similar in search procedure to transceivers, the RECCO system is not intended for companion rescue and works as a complement to transceiver use in the backcountry. More information about RECCO can be found at www.recco.com.