[Tagging] Feature Proposal - RFC - Avalanche Transceiver

[Tod Fitch]

Overall it looks good.

With respect to terminology, I think a few changes could be made. I will preface this with some caveats: It has been some years since I took my avalanche classes and while I refresh search techniques regularly I may be a bit off on my terminology. Also, this is from a west coast USA dialect, the UK terms may be different.

> An AT is a small electronic device a skier (ski touring, backcountry, off-road, etc) has under his clothes, in "emission" mode. If the skier is taken by an avalanche, the others members of his group turn their AT in "search" mode and it helps finding your friend alive under the snow. An AT is one the three basic emergency tools every backcountry skier have. The two others is tube (to precisely search for your friend under the snow once you have an approximate position thanks to the AT) and shovel (to pull out your friend from the snow).

1. '"emission” mode’: I have always heard this as “transmitting” (or sometimes simply just “on” as that is the default mode when you power on an avalanche transceiver).
2. “Search” mode is fine but many in my area call it “receive”.
3. I had to read it twice to understand that “tube” meant “probe pole”, “avalanche probe pole”, “avalanche probe” or simply “probe”.

> I propose this tagging scheme for AT training zone : training <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:training>=avalanche-transceiver <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Tag:training%3Davalanche-transceiver&action=edit&redlink=1>. It can be used for both nodes or areas.

4. Would training=avalanche_transceiver (underscore rather than dash or hyphen) fit more with OSM tag value conventions?

5. Reading the wiki on amenity=training, my impression is that most training=* are likely to be staffed with instructors. In my area instructors may setup temporary beacon parks or use permanent ones but for individual practice the beacon parks are usually unstaffed. I don’t know that this is a big deal for OSM tagging, so amenity=training, training=avalanche_beacon is probably okay.

> The second things to map with this key is avalanche transceiver checkpoint. It is a fixed installation that detect your AT when it's on "emission" mode and then tell you if it works well. It's most of the time put on official resort map, as you can see it on the "les deux Alpes" ski map <https://woody.cloudly.space/app/uploads/les-deux-alpes/2020/11/2021-no2-plan-hiver-ro-bat-hd.jpg>. They are most of the time at the entrance of well-known backcountry, or at the arrival of major lifts. I propose to map it withcheckpoint <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:checkpoint>=avalanche_transceiver <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Tag:checkpoint%3Davalanche_transceiver&action=edit&redlink=1>, just for nodes.


6. I think of a checkpoint as a staffed location or station where your passage is blocked until you provide sufficient documentation, etc. Reading the wiki, it sounds like OSM use is more general including places you can just sign a log book. In the areas I am familiar with the facility you describe would be simply a device set to receive AT signals and visually indicate when it detected one. These are usually located at the few designated areas where you are allowed to exit the groomed pistes. You ski past, single file and separated enough that each individual’s AT’s transmissions are independent, and verify that your AT is transmitting properly. There is no one there to bar your passage if your AT is not working properly. There is no receipt issued or log signed. So I am inclined to use something other than checkpoint=avalanche_transceiver though I don’t have any great suggestions and a quick look at taginfo and the wiki didn’t give me usable ideas.

> On Oct 17, 2021, at 3:25 AM, François Bojarski via Tagging <tagging at openstreetmap.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello dear OSM community,
> I made a proposal <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_features/Avalanche-transceiver> about avalanche transceiver checkpoint and training zone. Please discuss this proposal on its Wiki Talk page.
> 
> Happy coming ski season !
> 
> 
> Sent with ProtonMail <https://protonmail.com/> Secure Email.
> 
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