J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

You can still get an overnight sleeper train, but not direct from London. You get the normal Eurostar to Paris, or whatever, and then catch one of the slow French sleeper trains to wherever you're going, like Moutiers for example. And then the same in reverse, coming back. We met a French family in Moutiers train station at Feb half-term, who were doing that.

Ally

The best ski instructor I have ever had, out of about 12, is a wonderful French lady called Frederique, who works for Prosneige in Val Thorens. She was still there last year, because I had a look on their website and they still had a photo of her up. She speaks pretty good English as well.

I don't know that it's possible to pick a ski school though, because in my experience there have been good and bad instructors in the same ski school. The other (male) Prosneige instructor I had was fairly awful.

Perhaps with private lessons you can pick your instructor, if they're not teaching a class at the time.

Best of luck with finding a good one :D

Ally

Thanks Snowbandit,

How's your French?

Well done Snowbandit - that's great news :D

Have you decided which country in the Alps yet?

Ally

Hi Eggman,
I'm glad you've had some of your money (well, voucher anyway) back :D :D

How much more are you still waiting to collect?

Ally

I found the Recco detector range on the Recco.com website. This is what it says:




RECCO® detectors are used by organized rescue teams to locate individuals equipped with RECCO reflectors. RECCO's newest R9 detector can also located standard 457kHz avalanche beacons too. The RECCO detector is not intended for companion-rescue, but in the hands of trained searchers it enables efficient location of an avalanche burial when the victim is wearing a reflector. The detectors, which are positioned at convenient locations on the mountain, are operated by area ski patrols, helicopter skiing companies and search-and-rescue outfits.

The current detector has evolved significantly and now weighs only 950 grams (2.1 pounds). At this light weight, it is extremely portable and can be easily operated in rough terrain or harsh conditions. Its simple-to-use components include an on-off switch, power regulator, battery and socket charger. The self-contained unit can be used at full power for about two hours of search time before it needs to be recharged.

The range of the detector is a complex calculation of many variables including moisture content of snow, direction of burial and orientation of the RECCO detector to the buried reflector. The maximum range of the system is 200 meters through air and 20 meters through snow. A 20-meter corridor, 10 on each side, is recommended for the mountain search path, and an angled orientation of the detector to the slope is optimal for the first phase of the search.

I suppose this explains how the Recco detectors can work from a helicopter.

Bandit,
Do you think on-piste and at the side of the piste skiers like me, really need to buy an avalanche transceiver then? Surely, if I thought the risk of being caught by an avalanche in these circumstances was high enough to need a transceiver, I'd also need an avalung (for oxygen) and an exploding ABS pack (something like the safety air bags in the car I suppose) to keep me on top of the snow, and if I was planning on helping to find others I'd also need the shovel and probes/poles.

Do even the ski instructors ski around on piste with all this lot?

All this talk of avalanches has scared me right off going past the piste markers. In fact, maybe I will just stay at home next year :wink:

Ally

I rather think they're probably transponders in our clever ski pass cards as well. I read somewhere that they had thought to put the Recco technology in the ski passes, but the problem is that so many people drop them. So they put them on jackets, helmets and ski boots etc. instead (not skis because they get lost on the mountain as well).

I think everyone should have Recco on them somewhere - I mean they do occasionally have avalanches on-piste, or just off the piste, and people caught up in those (like me, for example) would be unlikely to be carrying proper avalanche gear. I also read somewhere, probably on that Recco site, that they put Recco detectors around the resort so that rescuers can get to them quickly and use them to find people.

I don't think it's like the helmet argument, because you'd never know you were wearing anything with Recco incorporated into it, unless you read the small print, so it doesn't alter your appearance or anything. And, obviously, if you were going 'really off-piste' you'd be advised to go with friends and take all the avalanche gear with you (like probes, shovels, ABS pack, avalung, transceivers, clinometer and compass etc.).

I don't know over what distance the Recco system works, but apparently analogue transceivers only work over 20m and digital ones over 10m, so you've either got to have a lot of people with their transceivers in search mode looking for you, or someone has to have a pretty good idea of where you are.

Do you turn your transceiver onto transmit before you start ski-ing off-piste? Presumably one in the 'off' mode is no use at all.

Pistehors.com says:
The Recco (http://www.recco.com) system is a passive search device. A small circuit board is sewn into clothing or glued onto the boots. It has the advantage that the the circuit doesn't need batteries and can't be forgotten or turned off. To be effective the rider should always wear two reflectors on both sides of the body.


Now where did I leave those ski boots?

However the system requires special equipment and although this is available in many ski resorts the rescue services must first transport it to the avalanche site. This delay is critical and therefore the system should not be considered by riders going far from the pistes.

Edit
The Ortovox D3 digital avalanche transceiver says it has a range of 40m
Ally

bandit wrote:

AllyG wrote:[ It's amazing how they work without batteries.

Ally

They don't work. there is nothing in a Recco Reflector that could work. It's just a reflector, it's passive. I have read anecdotal reports that mobile phones work just as well as Recco reflectors for the search units to lock onto.

Bandit,
I think they are very clever. Apparently a Recco 'reflector' is an 'electronic transponder with a copper aerial and a diode'. This is what it says on 'recco.com':

The RECCO® reflector is permanently affixed to skiers and snowboarders while they are recreating in the mountains. The small piece weighs less than four grams and is designed into commercially available outerwear, helmets, boots and protection gear. This ensures the reflector won't be left in the car, stashed mistakenly in the lodge or forgotten at home. It is a non-powered device, meaning it never needs to be switched on, will never loose signal strength and needs no batteries to function. It requires no maintenance and has a virtually unlimited lifespan.

The actual component is a small electronic transponder with a copper aerial and a diode. Similar to a thin, printed circuit card and surrounded by protective weatherproof plastic, it is factory mounted to the exterior of gear that is unlikely to be torn off in the event of an avalanche. The reflector is engineered to sit slightly raised from the body and is placed in a specific external configuration for optimal reflection in the event of a burial.

The two-part technology operates on the frequency-doubling principle. The RECCO reflector bounces back the directional radar signal to the searcher and doubles the frequency, allowing the operator of the RECCO detector to actually hear where the burial is located. This enables rapid pinpointing of the signal and tracks searchers on a direct path to the burial. The reflectors are most effective when worn on a helmet or in pairs–pant and jacket or left and right boot–due to the unpredictable orientation of avalanche burials.