A group probing technique for finding a victim without a transceiver signal.

Credit: Buckrail.com

An organized probe line is the last resort for finding a buried avalanche victim if other more efficient search methods are unsuccessful. Probe lines require a large group of people to systematically cover the entire debris field with probing. Searchers line up an arms length apart at the toe of the debris, probing left, center, and right, before stepping uphill and repeating the process. The first pass across the debris field should aim for probing spaced apart by 50 cm that go 1.5 meters deep. If the first pass is unsuccessful, repeat the probe line with probe spacing of 20 cm that goes the full probe depth.