RECCO/Courtesy photo
There are more resources than ever before that are available to outdoor recreationists which includes education and equipment. It’s bad practice to go into the backcountry without the trusted transceiver, probe and shovel combination. Avalanches have always been a serious threat to recreationists in the mountains, but that doesn’t stop people from wanting to enjoy the outdoors. A total of 5,813 avalanches were reported to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in the 2022-23 season.
Avalanche safety equipment won’t stop avalanches, but will increase the chances of survival. It was only a matter of time until this technology ended up in clothing and accessories.
Partnership in search and rescue
The idea behind RECCO was born in the late 1970s and prototypes were being made in the early 80s. The first RECCO rescue reflector was developed in 1983 in Sweden. In 2023, RECCO officially celebrated its 40th anniversary.
The RECCO reflectors are lightweight passive transponders that require no power or “activation” to function. They consist of a diode and an antenna. The reflector can be integrated into jackets, pants, helmets, backpacks, back protectors, boots, transceivers, watches and harnesses. Reflectors are also available as an individual product that can be attached to helmets, backpacks or as a belt. They are designed to last a long time if not mechanically damaged.
RECCO reflectors are embedded into apparel and gear from hundreds of popular brands such as Patagonia, Helly Hanson, POC and Arc’Teryx.
People who have a reflector on them can be detected using RECCO. The technology is impressive. The handheld detector can find reflectors within a range of up to 80 meters in the air and 20 meters through packed snow, which results in a practical range of 30 meters in avalanche debris.
The RECCO detector emits a directional radar signal similar to the beam of a flashlight. When the radar signal hits the RECCO reflector, it is echoed back to the detector and points the user in the direction of the victim. Reflectors can also be used to search for lost gear.
There are two RECCO detectors in Grand County. One is held by Grand County Search and Rescue and the other is with the Winter Park Ski Patrol.
Daniel Howlett, who goes by Howie, works for RECCO as a director of training and technical support. He describes his role as “answering questions nonstop, all the time.”
Before working for RECCO, Howie used to work at Alta Ski Area in Utah, for 40 years as a part of the avalanche program. He also worked in backcountry rescue. During this work, he familiarized himself with RECCO technology. In the late 1990s he was exposed to a new and smaller RECCO unit. During his time working in the outdoors, Howie has seen technology rapidly evolve.
“We watched the technology go from analog avalanche transceivers to what they are now, triple antennas with digital readouts,” Howie said.
Howie eventually resigned from the resort and began to work for RECCO full-time in Montana. He described the relationship between RECCO and integrated brands as a “partnership.”
“They are partners in the rescue system,” Howie said. “Yeah sure, your customers and you have to put these reflectors in and you have to train with the system, but everyone’s doing it all together.”
Search and rescue
Grand County Search and Rescue has had their receiver for the last 10 years.
Janel Jordy has been with Grand County Search and Rescue for around seven years. It started when she saw a flyer in the post office and saw a chance to give back to the community while also combining her love for the backcountry.
In her years of volunteering with search and rescue, she has also seen technology change rapidly. She calls the technology they use “impressive.” Besides the RECCO detector, Grand County Search and Rescue has a whole kit of technology available.
She’s seen drones being deployed firsthand in different missions and used for a variety of purposes. The drones can be used to study difficult terrain before sending volunteers onto the ground and capture photos in hard to access terrain. Some even have limited infrared capabilities to find victims who need rescuing.
GPS technology is also incredibly important in different missions, according to Jordy. SARTopo is a mapping program that provides data on things like the location of team members, terrain conditions, sunlight amounts, snowpack and more.
The RECCO detector can be used when someone doesn’t have a transceiver or if the transceiver fails, according to Jordy. Many people have a reflector embedded in their clothing or equipment and might not even be aware. In the case of inbound avalanches, RECCO detectors can be used to find someone who might not be carrying the same equipment that a backcountry athlete might.
Jordy also emphasized the importance of maintaining and carrying a transceiver if you decide to recreate in the backcountry whether its skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling or anything else.
“With avalanches, time is of the essence,” Jordy said. “So when you’re out skiing, you’re in transmit mode and then if something terrible happens, you switch over to search and then hopefully find that very transceiver pretty quickly.”
Jordy said that in the case of an avalanche in the backcountry, there is no replacement for a partner, transciever, shovel and probe combination.
RECCO in Grand County
Alex Scholtz Bash works year-round for Winter Park Resort as a professional ski patroller and bike partoller. She also works as an avalanche tech for the Winter Park Ski Patrol Dog Team.
Bash has been working with Winter Park Ski Patrol for 11 years. Prior to moving to the Fraser Valley, she lived in Durango working at Fort Lewis College in the outdoors program. During this time she learned a lot about snow safety and avalanches while working in the San Juan Mountains.
Bash’s love for skiing, learning and the outdoors have kept her in the business for a long time. Working in ski patrol, she says that the experience she gets is unparalleled. Bash is very familiar with technology and the role it plays in the outdoors.
Ski patrollers have many jobs around the resort. Everyday for a ski patroller is different, however, most mornings are spent doing maintenance around the mountain and preparing for guests, according to Jordy. Throughout the day they assist guests, whether they need questions answered or when an injury occurs. At the end of the day, patrollers clean up the slopes and make sure that nobody is left on the mountain.
In early 2023, Bash used a RECCO detector to find a buried avalanche victim after Grand County Search and Rescue and the sheriff’s office requested assistance from the Winter Park Ski Patrol Dog Team. Two snowmobilers were caught in an avalanche in January near Pumphouse Lake.
With the assistance of the dog team and RECCO detector, the groups were able to locate and extricate the buried snowmobiler. Bash used the detector and found the signal of the rider who was fully submerged in Pumphouse Lake, buried beneath two feet of avalanche debris. The individual, who was found with the RECCO, did not have a transceiver on him and so Bash’s skills with using the detector helped locate the body.
While avalanche dogs don’t look like other pieces of technology used in search and rescue, they are an important tool in finding people underneath the snow. They use scent to pinpoint where someone is under the snow and alert their handler. The handler then probes the snow, confirms whether there is somebody under the snow and then begins the process of digging them out of the snow.
Bash also echoed that time is of the essence when it comes to avalanche response. She recommends everyone carry a transceiver when in avalanche territory because it can be carried easily and can be used by everyone with a little practice. A RECCO detector and a rescue dog team aren’t resources that are readily available in the event of a disaster.
‘There’s so many tools out there to use in search and rescue,” Bash said. “Using an avalanche (transceiver) the concept, in general, seems simple, but it requires a lot of practice and training to actually be good at it and quick with it.”
“If this technology revolves around someone’s life, potentially saving someone’s life, then you need to be proficient at it and quick at it and understand all the ins and outs.”
Bash noted that one of the biggest changes she has seen in her time working in the outdoors is how readily available technology has become to recreationists. She said that the internet is a great resource in learning about safety. Now, people who are interested in backcountry recreation can do plenty of research before beginning.
“The user has the availability to do the research to do their homework to get the technology and to learn about it,” Bash said.
How RECCO continues to evolve
The beginnings of RECCO were based in the snow; however, new achievements meant that RECCO technology could be used all year for search and rescue efforts.
The RECCO search and rescue helicopter detector can cover large areas quickly. The helicopter detector can search from a height of 100 meters and cover a search area of approximately 100 meters wide. This airborne detector can be used year round.
“It allows us to travel over really large areas of terrain as fast as you usually drive a car, 300 feet above the ground and you can have a reflection from the RECCO reflectors while flying over the forest, scree slope or really complex terrain,” Howie said.
There is a single RECCO helicopter detector in Colorado and it is located in Durango.
Warnings for avalanche season
With so much information about safety available, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Bash keeps it simple.
“A word of advice for people going into the backcountry this winter is: get the education, get the training, get the gear, practice with the gear and get the forecast, the avalanche forecast for the day,” Bash emphasized.
