Avalanche Beacon Parks: Skill Development and Group Coordination in a Technological Training Ground

Abstract

High-risk outdoor recreation has been gaining interest around the world in the past years. While those activities allow their enthusiasts to reach unprecedented levels of adrenaline and adventure, they also contain risks and require specific training (in part technological). In particular, its participants must be ready to react efficiently during an emergency or in response to an accident. Technological training grounds can simulate particular contexts and emergency situations as a place for recreationists to train and practice. In this paper, we use the practice of avalanche companion rescue as a case study to explore how technological training grounds support recreationist training. Our results offer insights into how avalanche beacon training parks support skill development and team coordination training. We also present high-level strategies to orient the design of technological training grounds beyond avalanche companion rescue.