Jennifer Coulter

I was away for a week, without my dog at an avalanche course. The day I arrived back at work a fellow dog handler sprung an avalanche rescue practice for our patrol.

We were going about our business when it was called in, and we responded in a natural fashion, those closest responding as the "hasty search" team, collecting the witness along the way.

Without getting into too much detail, the dog and I arrived when there were already about 4 other patrollers searching the debris. (Others on the way) There was no information about # of burrials, or last seen points from the witness.

I was snowmobiled to a high point with the dog and then traversed in along a little used skiier traverse. As the likely burrial spots are often at the toe of the debris and there were no ski tracks above the traverse (it was closed above the traverse) I chose to start my hasty dog search down from the traverse with the dog.

Just before I was reaching the main toe of the debris (with no dog indications) a couple of patrollers on scene had found a avalanche tranceiver signal (a device people in avi terrain sometimes wear) and started to dig the first practice victim out. (a dummy with a tranceiver on)

At the bottom of the debris I put my skins on my skis (things that allow your skis to grip as you move uphill) and started to search back up the avalanche debris.

After getting back up to the traverse I moved above it focusing on a small bench of deeper debris. I was changing direction on the edge of the debris and when I turned around the dog was digging away (WATCH YOUR DOG JENNIFER ) He pulled out an article (large human scented sweater) that had been burried 24 hrs in advance to get rid of any track to the article. It was burried 60 cm down. This represented our second victim.

The dog had searched for 26 minutes before the find. If I had searched up from the traverse the find would have been very fast, but odds wise I stand by my decision to work down first. Had there been any wind (it was calm) he may have winded it on our first traverse accross.

The exersise was ended due to time constraints (further witness confirms two involved), but the dog search would have contined (and probe lines), until such time as the team, mostly relying on the dog teams called the site clear. Normally more than one of our dog teams would be searching a deposit this size as well, but the other dog handler who was working that day was the one that set it up.

There was nothing special about this practice search, just thought I would share a short training exersise that I was happy to have sprung on me. A change from searching the dog more on my own at work doing both lives and articles (with a few helpers), we get to do bigger scenarios about once every month or two. The patrollers are happy to have the dogs on these patrol practice searches as well as they imagine how long it would have taken to find that sweater using avalanche probes( long skinny poles poked into the snow used to hopefully "stike" a victim).!!!


I have included a picture of the site, taken from a chairlift, it is not great, but you get the idea. The debris is outlined in black and was actually old avi debris from about a week before.

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