The subject is a bit controversial.
K2 used to have some clickers with a rip-cord so that you could release in case of an avalanche. Some people rig their own rip cord to today's off the shelf bindings.

If you get caught in an avie with skis, it is easier to loose you skis or hopefully control your buoyancy as you go with the slide (assuming it is not a monster that knocks trees down with just the shockwave). Now, with a snowboard I think you'll just get pulled under by your board to the bottom of the slide and most likely upside down or in a similar position. So I am wondering why nobody has come up with a decent solution. I see some patents floating around for such products, but nothing in the market as of yet.

I think it would be useful for at least 2 good reasons:

1) Release your bindings if you're stuck upside down.
It has happened to me and it is absolute hell to get out of the bindings

2) Release when getting hit by a slide.
From 1) above, without being stuck under the snow, I know how hard it is to undo the bindings, so I know that if I am stuck under the snow even at a shallow depth, there is no way I'll be able to get out of my bindings which means it'll be the end of me unless my friends are good fast diggers.

Unfortunately, when it comes to tree wells, I am not so sure those are the solution though, although they may help in some cases.

Anybody got an opinion on this or knows of plans by manufacturers to come up with something?

I hope many manufacturers read SJ !!!

There is one tiny company making them (Revolution, I think?), but I haven't heard anything good about them. And as for tree wells, skiers have releasable bindings, but the last stats I read (earlier this season, as we have a ton of tree wells and always a couple deaths a year here in the Pacific Northwest), skiers didn't fair any better than snowboarders - who do not have releasable bindings - for getting out of tree wells.

And as for avy situations, do skiers really have the time and wherewithal to bother releasing their bindings while being swept away in an avy? I've never been in one, but most of the time I hear survivors say even the common "swim for the top" method isn't successful unless it's a tiny one.

the answer is Noboarding!

How about bindings/straps like on a kiteboard?
Or a tow-in Surfboard?

has anyone actually tried bindings like that on a snowboard?

66jzmstr,

Yes I saw Revolution Manufacturing had some kind of device but I could not find much info from their website. Otherwise it is the first time I hear about them.

For the avie on skis, I think you are right that you do not have time nor will bother to try to click out of your bindings as things usually happen too fast. But I think that your start tumbling and the snow starts exerting enough pressure on your skis you are probably better off having your feet coming out of the bindings.

I got caught in a reasonable size avie while on skis. I did not have time nor was I even remotely thinking about clicking out of my bindings. I just pointed my skis downhills and went with the flow flapping my arms to stay on top until it stopped. I did not loose either skis but did not get pulled under either.

Yep, tree wells are tricky, with or without release. Never ride alone may be the only solution to that.

Kuma, noboarding clearly solves that problem :-)

Those wakeboarding rubber thinggies work well barefoot in water but would never provide enough traction on slope. Funny idea though.

SerreChe
I'd agree that just not riding alone would be a good solution (I pulled my upside down friend out of a tree well). The unfortunate truth for people who really like POW is that you end up riding by yourself (No Friends Day) - unless of course your really don't like POW (or are blessed with friends your level). Make a lot of friends!

I just got a Burton SPLITBOARD. there is a release cord for both bindings. This means you disconnect from the board easily even with gloves on - but you will still be wearing your bindings and the hardware that connects you to the board. This is probably a good solution - though I haven't tested it yet.

Big Dogg,

completly agree with you. I tend to be as careful as I can but sometimes ride/hike on my own as well. I am lucky enough to have friends that ride POW all the time, but even then sometimes schedules simply do not click. Your friend was lucky to have you around to get him out of that well. Was it in Japan or US west coast?

I did not know burton had such a system. It is good to know a major manufacturer is looking at the issue. The release system is exactly what I was looking for. I am not expecting to get my foot out of the bindings and simply walk away but just to seperate myself from the board so that its shape does not pull me under, even if it means still having the bindings hooked.

I'll look into it. Cheers for the info.

I'm a little confused with the Noboard, do you hang onto the leash or does that wrap around or click onto your leg? Is it a good ride?

if you're regular (and your left foot is forward) then you hold on to the rope with your left hand. By pulling on the rope you increase pressure from your feet on the board.
When you get good you can let go of the rope and 'no-rope it'. The new ones come with a small leash at the back so that the board doesn't run away from you if you crash.

You only use it in powder and it's a real surfing sensation. Also, when you jump, you HAVE to grab

SerreChe
To answer your question: I pulled my friend out of the tree well on the west coast (Colorado, Utah or Tahoe). Might not have been that big of a deal. I didn't wait to find out.

As far as Burton intentionally making those bindings as a safety mechanism, I couldn't say. It's more for easy transition from board to skis. There are other companies that sell splitboards, so there might be something out there. The Voile split kit hardware (for the do-it-yourselfer) might work in a similar way to the Burton - I don't know. But if you got the Burton splitboard bindings, I think that you could just attach them to a regular board and have the option of a quick release binding, plus some added weight.

burton stopped making the splitboard hardware. You've got to use the Voile kit nowadays

Right. And Voile's hardware has a better reputation by most accounts. But, you could pick up a used Burton splitboard reasonably cheap. They want close to $200 just for the hardware for the Voile do-it-yourself kit.

Good luck with the noboard Kuma.
I must say the name is a bit strange.
Sounds like you have no board at all.
Actually the first boards by Burton were effectively noboards.
Back to the source.

I did look into the Burton splits and also realized they were not making them anymore. Voile does have an excellent rep but also the price to match.

Otherwise I saw some guys at the U of Utah were working on releasable bindings but seems nothing ever came out of that.

I'll keep an eye out.

SerreChe I don't think you'll ever find the perfect releaseable binding. If you want releaseable bindings like skis then get hardboots & the corresponding bindings.
I think in our avy class we saw some guy who had wires attached to his hardboot bindings that led up his pant leg (on the outside). In an avy he could reach down and yank the wire to release....great, but how many avy's do you get in compared to just normal crashes...or even when you get bounced around on say, a pillow line? I'd hate to eject at the wrong time.

you may as well just get that backpack that has an airbag to keep you afloat in a slide.

I would disagree that you wont be able to find a good releasable binding. New binding systems come out each year. The one I have for the splitboard (assuming the hardware works smoothly) should release with a pull of a string. This hasn't been tested while buried in an avalanche - but I'll get back to you on that one.

ON the other hand, I would agree with Kumapix that you're probably not gonna have much use for (hopefully) that quick release function so much. And if there is something like an airbag to keep you afloat - sounds like that would be the more appropriate safety precaution for the job. But then again - this is getting too high-tech for any split second decisions, while you're getting overcome by an avalanche. Time might be better spent getting out of the way or yelling 'OH SH#T!'

Actually Kuma, I am not looking for bindings similar to ski bindings with hardboots. I just want to be able to pull the rip-cord and release the board if I get caught in a slide and get pulled under. I do not want to release when I wipe out whether in a gully or anywhere else, only when in a slide which hopefully will never happen...again.

It seems to me that the technology should not be out of this world especially since it would be manually activated and that the rest of the time, even when you wipe out, your feet would stick to the board just like any ol' snowboard.

The airbag is probably the best concept out there with a 98% or something like that survival rate. Only problems are: Bag too small for my use. You need gas canisters that cannot be easily shipped due to tight regulations. The airbag has the tendency to push you face down into the slide (although not very deep, still enough to suffocate). Some people simply "freeze" and do not pull the cord. Others pull the cord and... nothing happens. So I guess airbag + avalung?

I guess until a nice releasable binding comes out I am gonna practice my 'OH SH#T!'

I don't know Serreche, I don't think I'd be able to release my bindings in a real avy. At what point do you pull the cord? As soon as it starts? You might have a chance to ride out of it so not such a good idea. So you wait til you're knocked off your feet? but then you'll be getting tossed around so much that reaching down to grab a cord would be extremely difficult. If the cord was placed like the airbag cord (parachute style) then it would be feasible...

Kuma, you might be right, I am not sure I would be able to release either and at the right time. I would think I would try to release as soon as I feel I cannot ride it out, but as you pointed out it might not be feasible or difficult. Maybe not that bad at all. I am not sure. I hope I do not have to test it, but would make me feel better to have the option. The airbag is definetly the best solution, but not available here (well at least it exists).

bump because of death of snowboarder in powder ...

first time to see this thread.

hmmm I have Switch (step in bindings) and drilled some holes (actually the former forumer telleboy drilled them in his "batcave") in the release lever and attached some cord to make a looping handle.
The theory was to make it easier to release, nice theory but in practice it was only helpful to release while stationary on flat ground. While moving there is too much pressure a dynamics going on in the binding mechanism for it to work. Added the fact they jammed with compacted snow and ice up.
If would be a complete miracle if they would both release if I yanked in an emergency.

What is an avilung?
Is that sorta like a scuba diving regulator?

It might be a good idea to have some sort of thing so that you can breathe when in deep powder. ????

SG, nice attempt. Do you have a pic of what your rigged set-up looks like? I still want to rig my kit. Having your feet stuck to a board in a slide is bad news.

kokodoko, an avalung is like a simple tube connected to a sort of bladder. The theory is that you breathe through the tube (air is ectracted from the snowpack around you since it is 80% air roughly)and the CO2 gets out via the bladder behind you (or on the side) so that you do not contaminate the air in front of you with CO2. It also helps not getting your throat clogged with ice/snow in the initial stage of the slide if you get the tube in your mouth in time. Should also help with avoiding or delaying the formation of an ice mask.

There is load of info on the net on those. You should check it out, it is interesting.

I have not tried it in deep powder, but in any case of immersion in the snow, it would help assuming you managed to get the tube in your mouth in time.

thanks serreChe. I will do a search.

I recently saw that there had been a lawsuit versus a snowboard manufacturer with regards to their bindings after a snowboarder died in a tree well on mount bachelor. It was argued that releaseable binding could have saved the person. The manufacturer was found not guilty.

http://www.natives.co.uk/news/2005/06/02suit.htm

Pepole die of CO2 satuation in the local atmosphere.

I don't know if it is a problem but is CO2 is heavier than air, so if you are positioned in a way where your intake on your avilung is lower than your out take of CO2 you will conatminate you air space you have made in front of your face.
Is that correct?

The co2 outlet is in your back so as not to contaminate the air intake. I guess theoretically if you are upside-down and your body heat creates a cavity big enough so that the co2 can seep down, then I guess that could potentially happen. I think you would still have more time than if you had no avalung and an ice mask formed in front of your face.