Can You Dig It? - shoveling comp - SLC volunteers needed

[Dostie]

Been working on this for awhile but it is now official (official announcement to follow). In an effort to raise awareness of the importance of knowing how to shovel in an avalanche rescue EarnYourTurns.com is hosting a shoveling competition at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer trade show in a few weeks.

So far 5 companies are vying for bragging rights to demonstrate 1) the best strategy for digging to save a buried avalanche victim, and 2) the best tool (their respective BC shovels) for doing that.

It's going to take a bit of logistical sweat and work to pull this off and I doubt I can do it solo. So I'm looking for help from a few of you who happen to live in the SLC area and can take the time off to do this.

Logistically we need to bury 5-6 full size dummies, with 1 boot and ski attached, 1.5 meters deep on Jan. 20th at Solitude ski resort.

The day of the competition we simply need to help coordinate the execution of the event which should only take about 1 hour. That leaves the rest of that day, the On Snow Demo Day (Jan 21, 2014), for you, as an official representative of EarnYourTurns to "test" new skis being made available next season.

PM me if you're interested and available.

[Dostie]

Okay, Can You Dig It? is happening! A few new logistical details and a renewed call for help. Right now I'm looking for 5 boots and 5 skis with alpine bindings mounted to them that are doomed for the trash bin anyway. Also, anyone with a GoPro that can be loaned for a day to record the competition.

[BillyFromTheHills]

Wish I could help but I live a bit far away....maybe one of the 5 companies could spring for airfare?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I can bring one pair with Voile hardwire and a beater pair of T2's. Also one pair of Alpine with bindings set for 9.5 boots, no boots though. I have some 3' by 1/4 fiberglass wands that could be used for marking burials.

[Dostie]

Thanks for the reminder. Need to grab all my test probes and a few more and some PVC tubing.

Managed to get a donation of boots from Start Haus in Truckee, so that's set. Still need beater alpine bindings. Have a few beater skis, but only tele bindings and I'd hate to subject the diggers to dealing with tele bindings. Can you imagine trying to unlock a tele boot from a 3-pin buried in concrete?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Problem with Alpine binding is the boots must fit, Tele cable type adjust with more ease, the Voile hardwires i can bring would be no more hard to remove, and my bindings are already set for that size., An Ill fitted Alpine binding could be even more difficult.

[Dostie]

UPDATE: Looks like my connection to obtain 5 life sized dummies went belly up. Any ideas on how to fabricate dummies on the cheap?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I've done them stuffed with snow using thrift store clothing but they will not come out completely unbroken, most other stuffing material that is cheap will compress with burial. Deserret Industries thrift stores in Utah would be a good source for clothing less than 10 bucks per dummy, I have a few beater helmets that could be used for heads How about water balloons with alcohol and red food coloring in them if they hit the dummy to hard!?!

[Greg]

Bludgeon some snowboarders. They come pre-dummied.

[Dostie]

One might say the same about telemarkers. They/we are certainly more dense, and thus might be harder to extract.

[bergbryce]

The best burial dummy I've ever seen was an old Air Force jump suit that was stuffed with other clothing. It held together for many seasons.
Sounds cool, wish I could help more.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Ran by the Sugarhouse Deseret industries today, clothing per dummy could be done for 8 bucks they also had many helmets for 2-3$, junk skis over priced at 35$.
Solitude ski patrol may have a few straw bales handy for stuffing, with some cheap twine and a few worn out socks dummies could be built for 10 apiece.

[Dostie]

wooo hoooo! My wife landed on a solution to the dummy problem, and they promise to be dead as a log and just as dense.

[Matt J]

Good demo, Dostie!

I've always felt that visualization and realistic rescue practice encourages conservative decision making. Enjoy SLC.

[Dostie]

Just a quick update here. The shoveling comp can be called a success. There were spectators and it was quite a good race to watch, even had a bit of shovel carnage.

But the main point of my posting here and now is to thank Shiek Yerbouti and Greg Adams from this forum for helping with the dirty work. Someone from every team came up to me yesterday while walking the Salt Palace at the OR show to say what a great competition it was and thanks for setting it up.

The set up, which was old fashioned, sweaty, gritty, manual labor of the ditch digging variety - only we were chopping and shoveling bermcrete - could not have been done without your help. THANK YOU! We didn't have time for it, but I owe you guys a beer. At least a 6-pack, or something equivalent.