That was a great piece on CBC radio this morning. It's great to see someone like you taking active steps to correct misinformation about backcountry travel. Although some will still choose to remain ignorant, I'm sure you will have made a difference in the minds of some. Congrats! And thanks!

Edit - sorry, it wasn't Just B, but Justin Bennett. My mistake.

PB

Ah, I was wondering if that was a Treader. Agreed, well done. Kudos to the reporter too

Justin Brown and Justin Bennett are two different people. Justin Brown is JustB. Justin Bennett is the SAR guy who was out with the reporter on CBC this morning.

I thought it was a good piece too.

JustB is a great guy. I don't know if I have ever met Justin Bennett but he sounds nice too.

Got a link to it?? I can't find it on their website.

Justin was talking to us about the interview while we were all climbing at Coquitlam Wednesday night. Didn't hear the interview either.

Thanks for posting PB. Here's the interview. See 'listen again' and click Friday. Fast forward to 1:20:40.

http://www.cbc.ca/earlyedition/

Wait, there's more... I have a quote in the leadup at about 1:17:00.

Good stuff.

thanks PB for posting this interview. it's awesome that Justin Bennett and friends took the time to open the eyes of the reporter and give others a new perspective. congratulations on a job well done!

and to you too, matosan!

it's so nice to hear positive comments about the backcountry in the media for a change. [^]

Agreed. That was a refreshing piece to hear on the news this morning.

Thanks Matt, I'll have to check that bit out... [)]

It's good to see a reporter actually going after the right info wrt this issue for a change. I hope this will change some minds regarding the risks behind winter backcountry travel.

The media seems to insist on getting the wrong info out there though.

I was watching CTV news last night and there was a segment about the latest fatality up in Northern BC. They said that the victim was found via his "locater beacon" which would I would take to mean that he was wearing a GPS transmitting PLB.

He was with a heliski outfit and was dug out in under 10 minutes so I know this not to be the case and that he was infact wearing an avalanche transciever, but many out there don't understand the difference. Some out there will understand what a PLB is for and will understandably have trouble figuring out how one of these devices will get you rescued in the even of an avalanche. This leads to the comments I have heard recently about "beacons" in "reality" being "body recovery devices".

Perhaps more unbelievably, it will lead to people going into avalanche terrain with a PLB and a shovel. They are thinking of course that the PLB is an "avalanche beacon" and this will save them somehow in an avalanche.

It seems like nit picking but a small mistake in terminology seems to set off huge misunderstandings in the general perception. I for one have learned in recent days to make a point of not calling trancievers "beacons". Its too similar to a similar yet very different device and it is causing too much confusion.

Getting back on topic, I was very pleased to hear the interview and think we need more reporters like this woman willing to go out there and learn about what all this stuff is exactly for. It doesn't sound like they actually gave her a demo of all the gear though. That would have been good and would have only taken a few extra minutes.