Got a beacon, need practice

Anyone interested in heading up to Caribou (outside of Nederland) to do some beacon searches? You would need a beacon and a shovel...
My cool new beacon only looks cool, unless used with another beacon.

Check with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center or some of
the closer ski areas--say Loveland. They usually set up days
for beacon practice.

Yeah, I'm aware. I'm thinking free and closer to Boulder. I'm not looking to get into some class (nothing against avy class, just want to do some simple beacon searches).

Anyone interested, or are you all too cool???

good probe, too.

take your packs and bury them with a beacon, helps get your thought process into a better buddy extrication.

& yes, I'm way cool

I believe there's some debate at the moment regarding the importance of a probe. Some people like Andrew Maclean advocate a "locate with beacon, dig!" approach, thereby removing the process and time associated with probing.

And yes, I'm way too cool.

I'd disagree with that. Beacons are not an elixir in effective buddy rescue. In fact, most beaconed rescues fail and they do so because the entirety to the extrication is inefficient.

a couple of buddies a six pack and head to one of the boulder parks after dark it won't be quite as good but it works

Just food for thought -

To Probe or Not to Probe

The one striking point (derrr) I see throughout that is no/limited discussion on effective digging, even in the comments advocating the uselessness of probing; which is the reason behind using a probe in conjunction with a beacon.

The probe sets up your dig and becomes the reason why you can be more effective to making the save; even more so in the deep burial where the author quickly discounts a probe as useless. That should have driven the point home had they been effective in the probe, the dig translates to a better rescue technique to guide your extrication resources.

Maybe the problem is that practice in shallow snow with just beacon finds allows a person to think that's all, just a few scoops and the airway and chest are now free. This mindset, or lack thereof, should indicate really who are the "drones" out in the backcountry as one comment noted. I can only restate, this mindset has shown itself to lead into failed buddy rescue where beacon finds have been involved, this includes discounting cases in trauma; failed rescues when using a beacon successfully are a majority right now because of how the overall rescue occurs.

I agree that's the major shortcoming in the article. I do carry a probe, but I have also bent probes easily in hard avy debris, then gotten sloppy and continued to probe with a bent pole, which is one of the point Maclean makes. I think the importance of digging down-hill of the burried victim on angled slopes is paramount - as studies have shown the time savings are significant.

I'd be down to do some beacon practice! I just got my level 1 and definitely need some more practice time with those things.

when were you thinking?

+1 on the starting downhill for rescue.

Good on you for trying to practice. It's not sexy or extreme, but very necessary.

Once a burial situation starts you'll be called on to use a lot of unfamiliar skills very fast. Organizing a group (who's the leader?), figuring out the slide path, assuring safety for any possible future slides, doing a beacon search, locating and digging, performing post-retrieval first aid. It adds up.

Shoot, I wish it wasn't so far away, I'd come up!