Ski trip - ski jacket with RECCO beacon any use in NZ?

[elswyth]

I've been shopping around for a ski jacket for an upcoming ski trip, and a salesman tried to recommend one with a RECCO beacon sewn into the sleeve - he said it'd help with search and rescue in the event of an avalanche.

I did some reading, and apparently RECCO is a fairly new tech that requires the search and rescue team of the ski resort to have an appropriate detector for it to even be of any use. Do the SAR teams in the ski resorts in NZ use them? I haven't seen it mentioned in any of the websites.

Will it be worth buying that jacket in particular, for the RECCO beacon? We will be skiing in the Remarkables and following the marked trails. I understand that there are avalanche prevention measures taken in ski resorts, but shit happens, and I'm paranoid. Or would hiring a standard avalanche transceiver be a better bet?

[newarrival]

Why don't you ask the skifield (operators)?

[dbonnett]

Here is a list of NZ resorts that Recco show as using the system: (from http://www.recco.com/resorts-operati...-recco-resorts - although I had to pull the list from Google Cache since the site is currently munted...)
NEW ZEALAND
Broken River, South IslandCardrona Ski Area, South Island
Coronet Peak, South Island
Craigieburn Valley Ski Area, South Island
Milford Road, South Island
Mount Cheeseman, South Island
Mount Cook, South Island
Mount Hutt, South Island
Mount Olympus, Christchurch, South Island
Ohau Ski Area, South Island
Porter Ski Area, South Island
Rainbow Skiarea, South Island
Roundhill Ski Area, South Island
Temple Basin, South Island
Turoa, North Island
Treble Cone, South Island
Whakapapa, North Island

That said, NZ has a maritime snow pack (as opposed to continental like Colorado, Utah etc) and most of the avalanches that occur are outside of ski areas. It won't hurt to have a Recco reflector in your jacket or boots (another common location) but your chances of being caught in a slide in-bounds are pretty low, even if you are skiing the really steep stuff at Temple Basin.

Most of the snow-related deaths here are on heli-skiing trips and the guides are far less likely to use Recco since the detectors aren't easy to transport in backcountry terrain. If you are going there, wear a beacon, learn how to use it and, most importantly, ski with a group who really know how to use theirs ;-)

[Bromley86]

I did some reading, and apparently RECCO is a fairly new tech

Not that invalidates your question, but RECCO certainly isn't new tech - it was in my ski kit back in the 80's. I suspect that you're being sold to.

[kiwi.]

I doubt ski conditions will often result in much risk of avalanche so save the money.

A little tongue in cheek.

If you're going to ski out of bounds (where the risk of avalanche likely is) get a beacon/probe/shovel and ensure your other partners do the same.

[G-Mo]

I'm not sure what qualifies as fairly new, I've had 2 Burton jackets over nearly a decade that contained them. I know for sure Mount Hutt has the tech and is trained on it's use as my sister worked there about 6 years ago.