SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., April 23, 2008-North American search and rescue organizations are taking a harder look at RECCO technology as the system continues to prove itself across the Atlantic. The systems have been widespread in Europe for the last decade, with two avalanche victims being rescued alive this year using the system.

According to the "Summit County News," mountain operations staffs have also used RECCO in ingenious ways. The Breckenridge Ski Patrol uses the system to retrieve avalanche shells that fail to explode, and rental helmets equipped with the system help locate missing children. The reflectors have also been attached to snowmaking hydrants to make them easier to locate under the snow.

And use in avalanche rescue is expanding as well. "It's another tool," Dale Atkins, a former Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecaster who is actively promoting the RECCO system in the U.S., told the "News." According to Atkins and other SARs professionals, all of the ski resorts in Summit County use the system. "It's just one additional way an organized rescue mission can zero in on a buried avalanche victim or lost hiker," said Atkins.

RECCO technology uses a detection unit the size of a large laptop, which then picks up a signal from a reflecting unit the size of a small lighter. These units have been sewn into outerwear by some manufacturers, and provide a fast and efficient way to locate the wearer with a RECCO detection unit if the wearer is buried by an avalanche or is lost. The detection range is approximately 200 meters.

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