He was saved by an incredible inflatable backpack!
A snowboarder got the scare of his life when he was swept up in an avalanche before he was saved by his inflatable backpack. It belonged to a device known as an avalanche airbag. It comes in a backpack and is activated by pulled a ripcord, as if it were a parachute. The big orange airbag lifts the adventurer up and above the snow and reduces the chances of getting buried and suffocating.
Watch the terrifying ride, below:
So, the airbag saved his life. Wanna learn more about the so-called avalanche airbag?
When an avalanche occurs, larger objects rise to the surface as smaller objects sink. Given that principle, airbag backpacks allow snowboarders, skiers, and hikers to “stay afloat.” The airbag is deployed by a ripcord, much like a parachute.
How effective are avalanche airbags?
Airbags are designed to prevent the wearer from being buried, which is key to survival in the event of an avalanche –suffocation is the main cause of death. And they have been shown to work effectively. The latest research is a 2014 study that looked retrospectively at avalanche data from around the world between 1994 and 2012, in which at least one person was wearing an airbag. It found that those wearing an inflated airbag had an 89% chance of survival, compared to 78% for those who were not.
So, wearing an airbag improves the chances of survival by fifty percent. Not bad. It is also true that about one-fifth of those who wore the airbags in avalanches failed to deploy them. Sometimes, they simply did not pull the rip cord. Other times, the system was not set up properly.
One study, conducted in France, Canada, Italy, Austria, and the US, showed that outside factors also influenced the effectiveness of the airbag system. For example, the size of the avalanche or the victim’s position within the avalanche makes a difference.
I want one!