Safety
"...a feeling of complete safety in the air and while skiing
..."
Béatrice, 2009
Safety briefings Sunday AM
Each trip starts with a comprehensive briefing about heliskiing and safety rules. You will be given a information pack to help you assimilate the info given. You will also be taught how to board and exit a helicopter safely. There will also be a practical training session in how to use an avalanche transceiver.
Safety equipment :
- Your Safety Equipment:
- ABS backpack ( Avalanche Balloon System) with shovel & probe
- Ortovox X1 (avalanche transceiver)
- Safety card (Info card in case of emergency / avalanche)
- Your Guide's Safety Equipment
- Shovel
- Probe
- First Aid kit
- Neck-brace
- Sat phone
- 2 -way radio for communicating with pilot, base and fellow guides
- Safety equipment carried in the Helicopter
- Additional First Aid kit, oxygen
- Equipment at base
- Evacuation equipment (backboard, immobilizing equipment , vacuum mattress, etc )
- Additional avalanche rescue gear
- Comprehensive First Aid kit
Snow-Safety Program
George Robbi is our avalanche specialist.
He collects daily snowpack data. He then evaluates this data and gives us a report on the stability of the snow at our daily guides' briefing.
George has a passion for heliskiiing and the study of snow, and lived for a long time in Queenstown (NZ), where he ran his own heliskiing base. He also worked as an 'avalanche technician' for New Zealand's Milford Road Avalanche Program
Evacuation procedures
We have all the equipment necessary to rescue and evacuate people in the event of accident, and we have systems and procedures in place to deal with these emergencies in an entirely autonomous manner. Depending on the severity of the case, our procedures include the following back-up options:
There is a doctor in the nearest village, which is 3 minutes by air or 20 minutes by car from our base.
There is a private hospital and a public hospital in Rize, 15 minutes by air or 1 hour by car from our base.
The university hospital in Trabzon is 30 minutes by air or 2 hours by car from our base
Safety Caches
We also have several Safety Caches located in various mountain houses around the area.
In addition to medical and evacuation equipment , we also store food, heating equipment and 'over-night gear' in these houses, in case we should ever have to stay the night.
Turkey Heliski