BOISE, Idaho — The Air Flare App came online in 2018 after three years of developing this new technology that turns people's phones into a rescue beacon.
Several Idaho ski resorts including Bogus Basin, Brundage Mountain Resort and Tamarack have partnered with Air Flare to help ski patrol find people quicker and easier.
"This is really slick, you can download it once and give it permission to ping you," said April Whitney of Brundage Mountain Resort. "After that it is passive, you don’t have to remember to turn it on before your ski day begins and we can ping you if one of your friends reports you missing."
We met up with co-founder Eliot Gillum at the Idaho Outfitter and Guides Annual Conference in Boise, Elliot and his partner Dennis Lee designed this app to be used with a device that everybody has and turn it into something that can save lives.
"It’s a level of protection you can have with you all the time, it doesn’t effect your battery life and everyone carries their phone these days," said Gillum.
Air Flare works best with cell service, which is ideal for our local ski resorts, in this scenario search and rescue can use the app to find someone's location at get to them quickly, here is a link to several success stories including ones from Bogus Basin, Brundage and tamarack.
Air Flare can only be accessed by search and rescue teams registered with the app, here is more information on their privacy policy.
"Air flare allows them to potentially find people instantly if they are within cell coverage and to be able to use things like this transponder and that drone without cell coverage," said Gillum.
Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue has also partnered with Air Flare because if people are out of cell range, search crews can use a GPS transponder to find a person using a Bluetooth like signal if the missing person has their phone turned on.
Rescue teams can also put a transponder on top of a drone covering a wider area, these devices can identify a person with a range of one kilometer depending on the conditions.
"It’s always a better pair of eyes, it doesn’t blink and it sees through things," said Gillum. "You can put it on top of a drone and cover a square mile in ten minutes or five miles of a river by flying up and down the river, it is just very powerful."
The App provides a base line of protection at an affordable price, the app is free to download and then subscriptions cost five dollars a year or people can buy a lifetime subscription for $15.
People can also set it up with friends and family and enable location sharing, this provides a way for people to track each others location if they desire.
Gillum stressed that Air Flare does not replace an avalanche rescue beacon and it's like all outdoor equipment, people need to be prepared with the right gear for the right scenario.
So if you are going deep in the Idaho Backcountry maybe a spot device, Garmin inReach or satellite phone could be a good option, but if you are a skier and stay closer to the beaten path Air Flare is a terrific choice at an unbeatable price.
Everybody should do their own research and come up with a solution that works best for them, but having a rescue plan and using technology is something that should be part of the equation when planning your next fun adventure.
