BeaconReviews.com contains information about avalanche transceivers and surviving avalanches. You can learn the basics, read the reviews, jump to my test conclusions, or navigate throughout the website for detailed information.

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Surviving an avalanche requires more than owning an avalanche beacon and knowing how to use it. It also involves awareness (avalanche education and forecasting), avoidance (safe travel techniques), surviving the physical trauma (terrain selection, wearing a helmet), preventing the burial (air bags), preventing asphyxiation (Avalung), locating the victim (searching and probing), accessing the victim (shoveling), and medical care and transportation.

I strive to keep the information on BeaconReviews.com independent and objective. I do not receive any compensation from beacon manufacturers, although I have received training and demo beacons from most manufacturers.

I am a software entrepreneur, a part-time patroller at Brighton Ski Resort in Utah, and the former Commander of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team, and an instructor for the Wilderness Medical Institute. As a rescuer, I have responded to more than a dozen avalanches that included nine fatalities. I created this website to share what I have learned.

Steve Achelis

PS: The 2008-2009 inbound avalanche deaths (Snowbird, Squaw Valley, and Jackson Hole) is a painful reminder to wear your transceiver in-area.