The Pains Of Touring / The solution

B

Bokky2

New member
I'm an engineering student at the University of Exeter in the UK. I'm really into my touring and backcountry skiing so for my final year project I want to design some form of touring equipment that will make the experience even better!

If anyone has any thoughts or just little things they find and issue when touring or skiing in the backcountry (or general resort skiing) I'd love to hear about it and try and design something to solve the issue.

So far Ive considered:

- A stick on transmitter that could be attached to skis so they can be found easily if lost in deep powder.

- A avalanche safety alarm that could help locate individuals after an avalanche.

- A heating element to roll up with touring skins to prevent them getting ice stuck onto them.

- A foldable shovel, there are loads of lightweight ones out there but not many compact ones.

Please let me know if you think of anything! And who knows maybe one day we'll all be using it.

Many thanks,

Will
 
http://www.resqski.com/

transceiver?

i guess that could work, not sure if anybody would actually deal with the extra weight.

my issue with a folding shovel is that inevitably there would be weak points. i personally have never felt my current shovel is too bulky.

If you could figure out some instrument you could throw onto a face that could tell you exactly what the snowpack was like on that face, and its likelihood to slide. Obviously you can do snowpack tests on similar slops but that isnt always reliable.
 
13741337:cobra_commander said:
Vipec? Trab TR2?
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Do either of those move laterally as well as a downhill binding? I'd imagine that the way the pin inserts in the fittings creates some drag and capture that just isn't there. And could I ski a TR2 or Vipec as hard as an inbounds binder? Not sure.

I honestly don't think it would be hard to come up with a system that works better; the norms are there now and that compatibility seems to be the biggest factor in people not moving forward. Pintech is nearly 30 years old--we can do better.
 
I think a vipec toe has close to the same 'feel' as a marker toe.

Same goes for the TR2

The heel is the big problem. TR2 tried to fix it, and was overly complex.

Marker tried to fix it too, but forgot to change the toe.

The Look turntable with single pivot is 40 years old or so, and still the best thing going. Plenty of people have tried to invent a better mousetrap though.
 
- A stick on transmitter that could be attached to skis so they can be found easily if lost in deep powder.

[/quote]

I'm from Maryland and am starting to learn about touring as I'm moving to South Lake Tahoe this winter, so this may be off base, but... I read recently that Recco stopped selling Recco detectors to the general public because people were putting them in places that were ineffective (ie in their pocket next to a phone), or they were losing them on the mountain which later confused avy rescuers. If this is a problem, it seems like it could be an issue with your idea that i quoted. Just my two cents.

Also, not to thread jack, but are there any threads on NS or TGR that could get me informed on AT tech, etc?
 
13741921:mike_e said:
- A stick on transmitter that could be attached to skis so they can be found easily if lost in deep powder.

I'm from Maryland and am starting to learn about touring as I'm moving to South Lake Tahoe this winter, so this may be off base, but... I read recently that Recco stopped selling Recco detectors to the general public because people were putting them in places that were ineffective (ie in their pocket next to a phone), or they were losing them on the mountain which later confused avy rescuers. If this is a problem, it seems like it could be an issue with your idea that i quoted. Just my two cents.

Also, not to thread jack, but are there any threads on NS or TGR that could get me informed on AT tech, etc?
Click to expand...

Disregard my last question, I found this thread w/ the searchbar and didn't realize there was a specific AT forum haha...
 
A collapsible shovel and an additional transmitter placed on your gear to find it in the event of a loss, will be hard sells to the touring market.

Shovels need to to be big and robust, tiny ones that fold up are will inevitably break or not move enough snow to successfully rescue someone.

The idea of another piece of electronic equipment broadcasting on any frequency wont sit well either. Anything that has the potential to cause interference of signal drift from you beacon is no-no. Cell phones, radios and wireless camera have all been shown to cause some level of interference.

An audible alarm would be an interesting idea, but I would wonder how well it would transmit below a few feet of snow. snow is amazing at dampening sound, so I would be surprised of it was audible to rescuers... in addition to that, being buried is awful enough, imagine how bad it would be with an audible alarm going off ( likely an alarm that only you can hear) ... the alarm also need to not be "alarming" .. audio can be a source of stress, and shit needs to be as calm as possible in a rescue scenario.

Your heating element idea is probably the best one on the list. Still gimmicky IMO. I mean, just jam your skins in your coat like everyone else has been doing since skins were invented... works great... but there are plenty of people who love shit that plugs in, and who dont mind lugging around extra weight.
 
Could we get a lightweight low volume plate That would allow a standard ski binding to free the heel and pivot at the toe to make a sort of hybrid touring binding?

Could be a shite idea but you know
 
13769363:Windblownslayer said:
Could we get a lightweight low volume plate That would allow a standard ski binding to free the heel and pivot at the toe to make a sort of hybrid touring binding?

Could be a shite idea but you know
Click to expand...

...
 
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