Avalanche equipment: what the standards cover, and what they do not.

Avalanche transceivers: ETSI EN 300 718

The European standard for avalanche transceivers, also called beacons, is published by ETSI. The current Part 1 found is ETSI EN 300 718-1 V2.2.1 (2021-06), "Avalanche Beacons operating at 457 kHz; Transmitter-receiver systems; Part 1: Harmonised Standard for access to radio spectrum". An earlier Part 1 is V2.1.1 (2018), and Part 1 refers to Part 2, ETSI EN 300 718-2 V2.1.1 (01-2018).

• What it covers: avalanche beacon transmitter-receiver systems operating from 456.9 to 457.1 kHz, a band harmonised across the EU for the emergency detection of buried victims and valuables under Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1345 of 2 August 2019.
• What it is for: it gives one voluntary means of meeting the essential requirements of the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU.
• How ETSI defines a beacon: a portable radio system for locating avalanche victims, for direct rescue by companions who are not buried, with two modes, transmit and receive (also called search).
• Technical limits in V2.2.1 include: a frequency error of no more than 80 Hz at 457 kHz; a transmitted field strength between 0.5 A/m and 2.23 A/m at 10 m; and a receiver sensitivity limit of 80 nA/m.

The ISMF's ski mountaineering race rules (Rules and Guidelines 2025-26, 31.1) require a transceiver conforming to EN 300 718 at 457 kHz with a three-antenna receiving system, carried in a closed zipped pocket inside the race suit at belly level or as the maker defines.

Avalanche airbag systems: EN 16716

EN 16716:2017, "Mountaineering equipment: Avalanche airbag systems: Safety requirements and test methods", was published as NS-EN 16716:2017 in Norway in May 2017, edition 1. Its stated scope is safety requirements and test methods for avalanche airbag systems intended to reduce the risk of burial in a snow avalanche. It states that it does not consider protection against impact or cold. Whether EN 16716 is being revised was not confirmed. Features that makers describe beyond the standard are makers' claims, and none are given here.

An avalanche airbag pack is a different product from the airbag protector that FIS requires in alpine speed racing. The FIS racing airbag is a crash-impact protector built to FIS specifications, covered on race suits, airbags and cut protection.

Probes and shovels: UIAA and ISMF

No CEN or ISO standard for avalanche probes or shovels was found. The two sets of requirements found come from the UIAA Safety Commission and from the ISMF's race rules.

• UIAA 156, avalanche rescue shovels: published by the UIAA Safety Commission on 17 July 2017 as its 23rd safety standard. It sets minimum mechanical, ergonomic and construction requirements, with laboratory tests aimed at the failure modes seen in the field, tension and bending.
• UIAA 157, avalanche rescue probes: as described in an ISSW 2023 paper by Genswein, Rogora and Bedogni, a minimum diameter of 11 mm and minimum length of 240 cm, with bending and elongation tests, a distinctly coloured last segment and a printed metric scale. A search summary of a UIAA page said UIAA 157 was approved at the Safety Commission plenary in June 2021 and that UIAA standards are self-regulatory rather than legally binding; that page was not read, so both points are unconfirmed.
• Background: the ISSW paper says the UIAA Safety Commission decided in 2013 to develop standards for avalanche rescue equipment, and that before then the only formal requirements came from ISMF race rules.
• ISMF probe standard (Appendix Q): the maker self-certifies a "rescue snow probe" of at least 10 mm outside diameter and 240 cm length that survives stated static load tests.
• ISMF shovel standard (Appendix R): the maker self-certifies a "rescue snow shovel" with a blade of at least 20 by 20 cm, a working length of at least 50 cm, a T or L handle, and a stated static strength test after cold conditioning at -20 C.

The two bodies set different minimum probe diameters: 11 mm in UIAA 157 and 10 mm in the ISMF 2025-26 race rules. This is a difference between two bodies' requirements, not an error in either.

What the ISMF requires racers to carry

For ski mountaineering team and individual races, the ISMF's compulsory equipment table (Rules and Guidelines 2025-26, p. 95) includes an avalanche transceiver, a snow shovel, a snow probe and a survival blanket, alongside skis, bindings, boots, poles, skins, helmet, gloves, backpack, clothing layers, eyewear and a whistle; some items are marked event-dependent for sprint, relay and vertical races. The ISMF also requires safety equipment to be CE and/or UIAA marked or to meet an applicable European rule, and not to be modified except as the maker authorises in writing. That is a race rule for one discipline, not general advice on what to carry.

Recalls and avalanche training

Regulators have recalled several avalanche transceivers, listed on recalls. Avalanche danger scales and fatality figures, as the avalanche centres publish them, are on avalanches as published. AIARE describes a recreational course sequence from Avalanche Awareness through AIARE 1 and AIARE 2, and Avalanche Canada describes AST 1, AST 2 and related courses; this site names them and does not describe what they teach.