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UIAA Standard for Avalanche Shovels
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

It appears there is a new published certification standard for avalanche shovels, which will be applied to shovels for the 18/19 season, once they have tested. The objective, quiet correctly, is that if you buy a certified shovel it will have been tested for size and strength, and judged to be a useful tool.

I received the links from the US website Mammut Avalanche Safety, who say that their minimalist 460-gram Alugator Light model would pass the test, so we aren't necessarily going to end up heavyweight shovels.

Publication of the 156 standard:

http://theuiaa.org/home/publication-of-uiaa-standard-156-avalanche-rescue-shovels/

The details of the 156 standard (it gets a bit technical towards the end):

http://theuiaa.org/documents/safety-standards/UIAA_avalanche_rescue_shovels_156_final.pdf
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

An interesting read. I'm surprised they weren't standardized years ago - I vaguely assumed all this stuff would be. That said, I just looked at the crab I use for a paperweight here and it doesn't have a standard mark - I thought they all used to have them, but maybe not.

Anyway, with competitive stuff requiring avalanche gear, and people like me not liking to carry excess weight, a standard sounds like a good idea and pretty easy to define.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I guess with a peice of equipment, that you want to be made of lightweight alloy to carry around, but steel to cut through Avalanche snow, there will always be manufacturers pushing the envelope of what is functionally acceptable.

At least this standard should produce better results than the infamous 2008 destruction test http://www.voile.com/AvalancheVol86_54-60.pdf

It will be interesting to see how the manufacturers deals with the certification.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that one.
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