New search-and-rescue system finds favor

Local ski patrols, search teams routinely deploy radar-based search technology

Click to Enlarge Browse and Buy Summit Daily Photos Keystone Resort Assistant Ski Patrol Director Craig Simson explains how the RECCO detection unit works. Summit Daily/Eric Drummond Get News Feeds

BY BOB BERWYN
summit daily news
Summit County, CO Colorado
April 3, 2008

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SUMMIT COUNTY — Rescue teams and ski patrols at local resorts are hoping that routine deployment of the radar-based RECCO locator system will help speed searches for buried avalanche victims and lost backcountry travelers.

“It’s another tool,” said Dale Atkins, a former Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecaster who is now spreading the word about the European RECCO system in the U.S.

All the ski resorts in Summit County now use the system, as does the Summit Search and Rescue Group. Experts say the RECCO system doesn’t replace any of the other commonly used search and rescue gear, including transceivers, probes or search dogs. It’s not intended as a tool for companion rescue.

It’s just one additional way an organized rescue mission can zero in on a buried avalanche victim or lost hiker, Atkins said. Using good judgment and being savvy in the backcountry will always be the best way to avoid danger, he added.

The RECCO system consists of two parts, passive reflectors and a detection unit.

The reflectors are wafers about the size and shape of a Band-Aid that are easily integrated into outdoor gear like ski jackets, pants, helmets and boots. The North Face, Arc’teryx and Quicksilver are a few of the manufacturers integrating the reflector into their gear. The reflectors are completely passive. They don’t need a power source and don’t need to be turned on.

The detector is a little bigger than a laptop computer. It works on the principle of harmonic radar, something like the anti-theft tabs used by retailers, Atkins said.

The detector sends out a signal and the reflector doubles the frequency and sends it back, Atkins said. It has a range of about 200 meters through the air, and the frequency can also penetrate snow.

“We actively practice with it,” said Dan Burnett, a Summit rescue group veteran. “The technology is getting better,” Burnett said, explaining that the detector’s small size makes the unit easier to use.

“It was a hassle, but it’s no longer experimental,” Burnett said. The RECCO unit is used in all search and rescue missions in Summit County, he added.

Multiple uses
Along with locating lost skiers or avalanche victims, the Breckenridge Ski Patrol also uses RECCO to retrieve avalanche shells that didn’t explode, said snow safety supervisor Bob Tierney. Those explosives can pose a danger to resort guests, and using RECCO to quickly find the misfires makes that part of the job a bit easier, Tierney said.

Resorts have also found other uses. At some areas, all the rental helmets are equipped with a RECCO reflector, making it much easier to find lost kids. And in some cases, the system even helps snowmakers find hydrants buried under the snow, Tierney said.

But the primary use is still to find people lost in the backcountry or buried in avalanches. In Europe, Tierney said, about 60 percent of skiers and snowboarders have a piece of gear with an embedded RECCO reflector. In the U.S. the percentage is much smaller, but growing.

“Over there, they’re really set up,” said avalanche forecaster Scott Toepfer. Nearly all search helicopters are equipped with a RECCO locator. With a good operator, a search team can quickly pinpoint the signal from a reflector.

Searching for the signal from a helicopter enables rescue teams to effectively scour a large area quickly.

“They’ll drop you right on top of a guy,” said Toepfer, who has spent parts of several seasons working with avalanche experts at European resorts.

“It gives rescue teams another tool to get in and out fast,” Toepfer said. Speedy searches help minimize the risk and impacts to volunteer and professional rescuers.
This winter, European rescue crews made two live recoveries with the system.

Basic system
“The biggest thing is, it provides a basic, inexpensive rescue system for everyone going out into the mountains,” Atkins said.

“We still want people to have transceivers and to know how to use them,” Atkins said. “Your life is in the hands of your friends.” Atkins explained that on-site rescue by other members of a party still represents the best chance for live recovery from an avalanche.

For next season, Atkins said RECCO will provide two detectors for the Flight For Life avalanche deployment program for the first time. The next generation of detectors is even smaller, making it easier to place the equipment in the crowded helicopter cockpit.

Initially, the units will still be used for ground deployment once rescue teams arrive at the scene. Atkins said the detector works well from a helicopter, but that it takes a lot of practice to acquire that skill.

Combined with better cell phone coverage and more powerful snowmobiles that can carry rescuers to remote backcountry areas, Atkins said that search teams can be deployed to the backcountry faster than ever before, Using RECCO as part of a search could help find an avalanche victim who wasn’t carrying a transceiver but might have a reflector in his jacket.

This year, the Austrian Alpine Club added the RECCO system to its standards list for backcountry safety gear, partly in response to live recoveries the previous winter in France, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

Experts with the influential club said that rapid response from search teams — due to cell and satellite phone notification and helicopter travel — has made RECCO an effective first response tool for avalanche rescue.

For more information, go to http://www.recco.com/startsida/index.asp.

Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.