4 ms·

Wolverine's are awesome and I have no doubt they could be be trained for this. However I'm not sure it makes any sort of economic sense due to the difficulties

Wolverine's are awesome and I have no doubt they could be be trained for this. However I'm not sure it makes any sort of economic sense due to the difficulties in breeding and keeping wolverines and the need for avalanche rescues to happen extremely quickly. Statistics show that avalanche rescue needs to happen in less then 10-15 minutes for a victim to have a good chance of survival. Backcountry skiers wear radio transceivers so their partners can respond instantly for this reason. Big ski areas will have a few trained dogs who hang out in ski patrol shacks at the top of runs so they can be deployed quickly in the event of a rare inbounds slide that traps people not wearing beacons. Any backcountry skier who takes risk and safety seriously will tell you that dogs, and even beacons are really just for body recovery though and avoidance is key.

sandworm101 10y ago
The dogs are the product a thousand generations of selective breeding. Both a labrador and a wolverine could kill me, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in a gondola with the later. > even beacons are really just for body recovery though and avoidance is key. In my day (more than a decade ago) there was much debate about the beacons giving people too much confidence, that they caused more accidents than they saved lives. I always used them, but understood why some disliked their effects. I shutter to think what would happen should someone develop a smartphone app to 'replace' traditional radio beacons. Imho the real dangers came from speed. Snow machines and helicopters moved people through terrain without them spending the time to know the snow. When you spend most of the day walking up a hill you have a better appreciation for what is happening under your feet.
- koverstreet 10y ago
  A lab, kill a person? An adult? If you've ever had large dogs, and played with them - they're really not remotely formidable opponents. Anything but maybe the largest breeds bred for fighting doesn't stand a chance against a person who's wrestling/grappling them, they're not flexible or muscled in the right ways. A wolverine though? I've never interacted with one, but I do know what ferrets are like - small, terrifying balls of pure muscle that can bend and twist every which way and are unbelievably fast. That's scary enough in a ferret size package, but a wolverine? Oh HELL no.
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    My lab-bernese cross is 80lbs. She's a big puppy, but her arms are as long as mine. If she was so inclined, she has the teeth to tear my throat out. We forget how powerful a dog can be because that part of them hides behind the breeding. We have both evolved to not be afraid of each other. I once read an old army survival manual that mentioned fighting guard or search dogs. If one dog, attack from low upwards. Go for the soft parts of the throat, rather than raining blows from above. But if facing two dogs, run.
    - koverstreet 10y ago
      You must have play fought with your dog from time to time though, right? You certainly have an idea of your relative strengths. How does it usually go? I've had dogs and had experience with many more, often playing very rough with them, and I've had to break up fights between dogs which generally meant me being directly in the middle. A dog is remarkably easy to pin and subdue such that they are completely at your mercy and those teeth can't do one bit of good. Yes, if it's a dog that actually wishes you harm you're going to get chewed up in the process, but still - worst case, as long as you keep your head you can end the fight with at worst a chewed up arm. Btw, I completely agree with what the survival manual says, including if there's two dogs. I maintain that a wolverine that actually wanted to kill you would be a completely different story. WTF would you do? I have no idea. How would you fight an animal that's been known to kill bears? Dogs (singly) don't fight bears and win, ever. Wolverines do. Which would you rather fight?

sandworm101 10y ago

The dogs are the product a thousand generations of selective breeding. Both a labrador and a wolverine could kill me, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in a gondola with the later. > even beacons are really just for body recovery though and avoidance is key. In my day (more than a decade ago) there was much debate about the beacons giving people too much confidence, that they caused more accidents than they saved lives. I always used them, but understood why some disliked their effects. I shutter to think what would happen should someone develop a smartphone app to 'replace' traditional radio beacons. Imho the real dangers came from speed. Snow machines and helicopters moved people through terrain without them spending the time to know the snow. When you spend most of the day walking up a hill you have a better appreciation for what is happening under your feet.

koverstreet 10y ago
A lab, kill a person? An adult? If you've ever had large dogs, and played with them - they're really not remotely formidable opponents. Anything but maybe the largest breeds bred for fighting doesn't stand a chance against a person who's wrestling/grappling them, they're not flexible or muscled in the right ways. A wolverine though? I've never interacted with one, but I do know what ferrets are like - small, terrifying balls of pure muscle that can bend and twist every which way and are unbelievably fast. That's scary enough in a ferret size package, but a wolverine? Oh HELL no.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  My lab-bernese cross is 80lbs. She's a big puppy, but her arms are as long as mine. If she was so inclined, she has the teeth to tear my throat out. We forget how powerful a dog can be because that part of them hides behind the breeding. We have both evolved to not be afraid of each other. I once read an old army survival manual that mentioned fighting guard or search dogs. If one dog, attack from low upwards. Go for the soft parts of the throat, rather than raining blows from above. But if facing two dogs, run.
  - koverstreet 10y ago
    You must have play fought with your dog from time to time though, right? You certainly have an idea of your relative strengths. How does it usually go? I've had dogs and had experience with many more, often playing very rough with them, and I've had to break up fights between dogs which generally meant me being directly in the middle. A dog is remarkably easy to pin and subdue such that they are completely at your mercy and those teeth can't do one bit of good. Yes, if it's a dog that actually wishes you harm you're going to get chewed up in the process, but still - worst case, as long as you keep your head you can end the fight with at worst a chewed up arm. Btw, I completely agree with what the survival manual says, including if there's two dogs. I maintain that a wolverine that actually wanted to kill you would be a completely different story. WTF would you do? I have no idea. How would you fight an animal that's been known to kill bears? Dogs (singly) don't fight bears and win, ever. Wolverines do. Which would you rather fight?