Get Confident in the Avalanche Training Area

20 Jun 2024

3 min read

Ski touring is a trend that grows every year, and for good reason. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of climbing a mountain on your own strength and then skiing down untouched powder on a steep slope. It’s a rewarding blend of exercise, stunning natural surroundings, and a deep sense of accomplishment, all wrapped up in one adventure.

Norwegians buy more sports equipment per capita than anyone else in the world, and ski touring gear is high on that list. Never before have Norwegians had such high-quality ski touring equipment, but do you know how to use it when an accident strikes?

We spoke with Rune Slettemark, the head of the ski patrol, who was crucial in establishing an avalanche transceiver training course in Myrkdalen.

Collaboration Between Myrkdalen Mountain Resort and the Red Cross

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus opened the avalanche transceiver track during the Freestyle World Championships in 2013

It all started when Rune interned with the ski patrol in Hemsedal in 2011. There, he gained insight into avalanche search training, and saw how useful it was for both organisations and ski enthusiasts.

Here, people can become familiar with and trust their own transmitter/receiver, which ultimately can save lives.

Back home in Voss, Rune established a close collaboration with the Red Cross to realise a similar track in Myrkdalen. After many phone calls and applications, the avalanche transceiver track was officially opened by Crown Prince Haakon Magnus during the Freestyle World Championships in 2013.

Become Familiar with Using Your Avalanche Transceiver

The avalanche transceiver training course, located at the top of Myrkdalsekspressen skilift, is a practice area for using transceivers and probe poles. In the area, units emit signals, and at the control panel by the course, you choose the difficulty level of the exercise – easy, medium, or expert. The level you select determines how many units will emit signals.

Tips: The training area is lit in the evening. Stop by after your evening tour to Finnbunuten.

It's all about using the avalanche transceiver to locate these as quickly as possible. Once you have located the units, you take out the probe. As soon as you hit a unit, a warning appears on the control panel and you see the time you've spent on the session.

"You get specific feedback on how good you are at using your equipment, and the more you practice, the more your time will decrease," says Rune enthusiastically.

The Time You Spend Determines Life or Death

"The time you spend determines whether the outcome will be tragic or good," says Rune, a bit more serious now. In the avalanche search training, you get to work with good methods so that it eventually becomes automatic if you should be so unlucky as to be in the middle of an avalanche accident.

If you can't use your equipment, you're simply a bad friend

Practice Digging

The avalanche transceiver course is not designed for you to dig up the units. Therefore, you do not get to practice digging, which is an important and demanding part of the rescue work.

- My advice is to step back from the avalanche transceiver's path and insert the probe about 1 - 1.5 meters into the snow. Then stand on the downhill side and dig towards the tip of the probe until you see it, says Rune.

Avalanche Rescue Course

The avalanche transceiver training course helps you to increase response time, so that you are best prepared for a real avalanche situation.

"But the goal for everyone who likes ski touring or skiing off-piste should be to avoid getting caught in an avalanche," Rune says. This requires knowledge about avalanche risk assessment, trip planning, route selection, and skiing patterns.

"A good place to start is to take an avalanche safety course. The skilled ski instructors at Myrkdalen Ski School offer many courses throughout the winter, for both beginners and advanced students. And read up on varsom.no," Rune concludes.