Video: Float 30 Test at Alpental
Posted on 26 April 2010
If you’ve been following our blog this winter you’re probably aware that we’ve been busy attempting to cream the Float 30 in real avalanches. The most difficult part about this procedure is operating in avalanche terrain while the threat of a real avalanche is high. Bottom line: high avalanche hazard = good testing conditions.
The process that needs to happen to test an airbag goes something like this:
1. It needs to be determined if it’s possible to “make” an avalanche happen.
2. The airbag needs to be deployed and put on a dummy that weighs about as much as an American male who eats at Burger King on occasion, and then it needs to be staged in prime avalanche terrain.
3. The last step is to clear the area immediately, get into a safe zone, and give the “OK” to set off the bombs.
So I went up to Alpental on April 15th to meet with the ski patrol and come up with a plan of action. During the morning, most of the pro crew was heavily occupied mitigating avalanche danger at the ski area. The region was at the tail end of a classic Northwest storm pattern and the avalanche danger was high. In the course of the next 36 hours we would hear of two ski tourers who were caught in slides and needed to be evacuated (note: these people were not skiing at Alpental, they were in a popular touring area across the valley). The hill was crowded with skiers and boarders revitalized by all of the new snow and it was quickly apparent that it would be difficult to get a test done on this day. However, the Alpental pro patrol was game to get something done in the near future so I left the Float 30 and a few extra cylinders with them.
The next day at 1:30 PM my phone rang and I was told “three minutes until detonation, we’ll call you back in a little while.”
Here’s the video:
A solid test with solid results. We’d like to thank the following people for being involved:
Rob Gibson (Patrol Director) and Jonathan Adams who were in charge of blasting the cornice that triggered the slide.
John Stimberis and Jay Wiseman for the video and photos.
Geoff Ferguson who recovered the dummy and Float 30.
Mark Baun who was in charge of sight safety and scene control.
Guy Lawrence (Director of Marketing).
Stay tuned for more Float 30 testing videos this spring!
4 responses to Video: Float 30 Test at Alpental
Sweet.
Dr. Geoff Ferguson btw.
Anxious to see some of the test data,,
Was float 30 activated remote during the slide or prior to the slide?
What was the depth of the slide at victims location?
How far did victim travel in slide?
Maybe next time have a control dummy w/ no float 30?
GREAT REAL WORLD WORK AND RESEARCH!! Best wishes for your success!!
Tom,
I’ll have to speak directly with John Stimberis to get exact details and just a heads up that he’s gone for a week doing highway control work on Chinook Pass, so it will take some time. But here’s what I know: the bag was deployed on the dummy when they got it into place, a few minutes before the explosives went off. The debris was anywhere from 1.5 to 1.75 meters deep depending on where you were measuring, I don’t have the exact debris depth to where the Float was recovered but John does. A second dummy is a great idea. Stay tuned. Thanks.