By Lachlan Forsyth
A device that could reduce the number of avalanche fatalities may not be far away from mass-production.
Inventor Arthur Tyndall came up with a simple mechanical probe that can assess a snow base for the likelihood of an avalanche.
The device is little more than a cordless drill with a few fancy add-ons at the moment.
But the revolutionary snowprobe could eliminate the backbreaking work of digging pits to test for avalanche risk.
Professor Keith Alexander, of the Canterbury University Mechanical Engineering Department, says the device will save time and man-power.
“Digging a pit takes a long time. It's difficult to do and it takes a lot of effort - you don't want to be doing it,” he says.
“So the idea of this is within about 30 seconds get the same information without having to dig any pit.”
The probe extends and rotates through the snow, measuring resistance and indicating how stable a slope may be.
The probe then fires information back to a special monitor which collates the data.
Mr Alexander says that another advantage of the probe is its portability.
“It can be put in a backpack, you put the batteries in your pocket to keep them warm and then you can lug it around in a backpack - you should be able to ski with it,” he says.
Avalanches have claimed three lives on New Zealand slopes this winter.
One death was outside the designated Coronet Peak skiing area while the other two were in professional heliskiing expeditions.
Mr Tyndall says it was losing a friend 18 years ago that inspired him to come up with the avalanche detecting device.
The invention has taken Mr Tyndall almost a decade to development.
“Keith and I were determined to keep on with it, because we think it has the potential to save lives,” he says.
Mr Tyndall says the probe has already proven its worth in the field.
“A student did predict an unstable slope in the morning and in the afternoon it avalanched,” he says.
The prototype probe still needs funding to be launched commercially.
Mr Tyndall says he hopes the device will be on the market within the next few years.
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