Snowsafe Blog

Time

In any missing person search, time is of the essence, especially in an avalanche where there is only 13 minutes to locate the missing person buried under the snow. 

TerraWest studied the market by comparing the current deployment times of a few different brands on the market, the average time is between 22-30 seconds from removing the probe from your ski backpack to deploying the probe.

Having looked at these times, TerraWest made it their mission to create a probe with speed with the following deployment times. 

240 cm:  

• 6 Seconds from the release cover
• 14 seconds from bag to fully deployed

320 cm:

• 9 Seconds from the release cover
• 18 seconds from bag to fully deployed

TerraWest managed to achieve this by adding a quick automatic locking system to the top of the probe, this offers deployment in one motion.

Aswell as the automatic locking system, TerraWest added 6 lightweight aluminium segments with 5 of the segments having rounded curators on the end,  this means that the probe can lock into each other quickly without it getting stuck. 

You can easily collapse the probe by clicking the glove-friendly button.

Usability 

After time, comes usability, there’s nothing worse than a probe that’s cheaply made and you struggles to deploy (especially when you have ski gloves on), the last thing you want to be doing in an emergency is worrying about deploying your probe and taking your gloves off.

For ease of use, TerraWest added a leash to the handle making it easy to deploy with ski gloves on. 

EVA foam has been added to the top of the probe for optimal grip on deployment.

Durability

In-order to maintain longevity and durability, TerraWest searched high and wide for the best aluminium and tensioning systems on the market. 

Probe Pole Materials – Alumimium 7075 T6 – Featured in the TerraWest Core Quick Lock 240 & 320, this aluminium material is light and stiff, making it a strong compansion for cutting through snow laters.

Probe Tensioning System – Coated Steel cord – This cord has limited stretching and offers high rigidity, stability and robustness, making it the ideal tension cord. 

A Large probe tip has been added so you can easily cut through avalanche snow slabs and ice.

Readability

Clear and prominent depth markers have been added to the core quick lock 240 and 320 probe, you can find these every 10 cm and visual orange guides every 50 cm, this makes it easy for you to read the snow depth.

The single orange pole at the end of the probe indicates that the first 40 cm is buried in the snow.

The bright orange pole also helps the buried victim see the probe.

Release Cover

As mentioned above, time is of the essence in an avalanche situation so you don’t need to be wasting time trying to get the probe out of its bag or cover.

The TerraWest Core Quick-Lock Probe Series comes with a quick-assembly strap and release cover, making it easy to release the probe from your ski backpack and probe cover in One Motion.