terrain is honestly assessing and estimating the information that was ignored or overlooked. Recent research has shown that there are strong psychological and group dynamic determinants that lead to avalanche involvement. Even small avalanches are a serious danger to life, even with properly trained and equipped companions who avoid the avalanche. Between 55 and 65 percent of victims buried in the open are killed, and only 80 percent of the victims remaining on the surface survive. (McClung, p.177). Research carried out in Switzerland based on 422 buried skiers indicates how the chances of survival drop: Very rapidly from 92 percent within 15 minutes to only 30 percent after 35 minutes (victims die of suffocation) Near zero after two hours (victims die of injuries or hypothermia) (Historically, the chances of survival were estimated at 85% within 15 minutes, 50% within 30 minutes, 20% within one hour). Consequently, it is vital that everyone surviving an avalanche is used in an immediate search and rescue operation, rather than waiting for help to arrive. Additional help can be called once it can be determined if anyone is seriously injured or still remains unaccounted for after the immediate search (i.e., after at least 30 minutes of searching). Even in a well equipped country such as France, it typically takes 45 minutes for a helicopter rescue team to arrive, by which time most of the victims are likely to have died. In some cases avalanche victims are not located until spring thaw melts the snow, or even years later when objects emerge from a glacier. Search and rescue equipment Chances of a buried victim being found alive and rescued are increased when everyone in a group is carrying and using standard avalanche equipment, and have trained in how to use it. A beacon, shovel and probe is considered the minimum equipment to carry for companion rescue. Organized rescue involves ski patrols and mountain rescue teams who are often equipped with other technologies to search for buried victims. Rescue equipment can make a difference, and in 2010 the French National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches (ANENA) recommended that all off-piste skiers should carry beacons, probes, shovels, and Recco reflectors. Avalanche cords The use of avalanche cords goes back to the early 20th century and a Bavarian mountaineer named Eugen Oertel. In the United States the concept was recommended as early as 1908 in the