Henry’s Avalanche Talk Launches New HAT Safety Pack For All Off-Piste Skiers And Snowboarders

Henry’s Avalanche Talk, the leading organisation that offers education and advice for skiers and snowboarders that head off the marked runs into what’s known as off-piste terrain, has launched a new Safety Pack that is designed as a checklist or memory aid.

Each ‘HAT Safety Pack’ comes with 2 simple size A7 cards in a plastic wallet, they include:

1 x Prevention Card with a ‘quick reference’ of the key accident reduction points. It contains a score card scale to help skiers reference the potential danger for a given slope on a given day, and more info, such as definitions of the danger scale (from 1 to 5).

1 x Companion Rescue Card covering the steps that skiers in a group might need to implement in order to recover a buried avalanche victim in 15 minutes or less.

1 x Plastic Wallet into which the two cards are inserted

The HAT Safety Pack is a complement for all training and for all levels of off-piste skier and snowboarder:

• For novice off-piste skiers (with an instructor or guide): a point of departure.
• For the experienced: a structure for gaining and applying further knowledge.
• For pros: an accident prevention tool for quick client training and review. And proof that safety points have been covered.

It’s designed as a back-up for any talks and training that skiers and snowboarders might have attended, and invaluable for anyone who’s likely to be heading off-piste, because it provides a simple memory aid to remember the key safety points to apply in order – helping to reduce the chances of an accident and/or to help reduce the consequences of an accident if it does occur.

Founder of Henry’s Avalanche Talk, Henry Schniewind, said: “Have you ever attended a talk or training which contained some really good info, then afterwards found you couldn’t retain all its important pointers, or at least wouldn’t feel sure about how to implement them? Having the training is fantastic, but education on its own is not enough”.

“Almost all avalanche accidents are preventable because in over 90% of the cases, it’s the victim themselves that triggers the avalanche. A lot of the time, these skiers and snowboarders are highly knowledgeable when it comes to snow safety, sometimes they are even professionals. But we know that knowledge alone isn’t enough and therefore it’s the application of that knowledge that actually can prevent accidents. We know that off-piste skiing is no more dangerous than driving for an hour or so statistically speaking, when the safety points are followed, but it can be as surprisingly dangerous as something like base jumping when they are not”.

“My recent post, What is the Risk of Riding Avalanche Terrain, on the subject covers this”

“Also, we would not be able to do this without the support of our partners. Ortovox, Ellis Brigham and The Ski Club of Great Britain all provide support that makes this possible.  So we offer a big thanks to each of them”.

Dan Egan, pioneer of extreme skiing and member of the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, said: "Henry’s Avalanche Talk truly has done it again. Their new Pocket Guide packages complex and important snow safety information into bite size pieces, which are easy to understand and ultimately will save lives. Focusing on decision making, risk reduction and crisis preparation, it provides a framework for accident reduction based around Henry’s key messages of where you go, how you go and be prepared for rescue”.

Cost: £12.50