In reply to Jim 1003:
> Render first aid for a start, call help if you're unconscious...
> dig you out...the list could be quite long....
I'm not seeing how the list has any more items than what you already gave.
Anyway those three items are surely important.
Especially with some avalanche Partial burial configurations, a partner could make a big difference. But for many other configurations, just carrying a shovel myself could greatly raise my survival probability (something I should do more often when out solo?)
Crevassse: Some (survivable) crevasse-fall situations could be helped greatly by a partner, but for many crevasse situations - (especially since most ski tourers are unroped most of the time, and unroped in the more dangerous situations) - it's very tricky for a single partner to effectively help. There was a case in the last three years on Mont Blanc with a multi-person guided party, where even a helicopter team could not extricate a conscious trapped skier in good weather, so he slowly died.
. . (there is a piece of equipment which I carry, not only for solo, which helps avoid that result).
Anyway I was responding to situation described by Conor1 above as specifically Non-avalanche and Non-crevassse, with the skier conscious with a broken leg.
Not many non-avalanche-full-burial _skiing_ accidents result in survivable unconsciousness.
So if I have a SPOT or a working phone connection, then I don't need a partner to call for help.
First Aid?
Not many survivable _skiing_ accidents result in major external bleeding.
Not many survivable non-avalanche-full-burial _skiing_ accidents result in a need for artificial respiration / CPR.
Avalanche full burial? The historical probabilities of survival without permanent brain damage -- given a single partner to perform your rescue -- are not higher than 50%.
. . (More solo tourers nowadays are skiing with an Air Bag System).
Summary for me so far:
Having a partner for skiing helps raise my survival probability _somewhat_ in case of an accident.
. . . but . . .
Need to balance that against the number of times where a partner's actions or lack of communication or lack of competence exposed me to a significantly higher risk of _getting_ into an accident.
Ken
Post edited at 16:12