It’s called the Spooner. It will change your life.
We’ve been waiting years for this. A compact avalanche rescue shovel that’ll fit almost anywhere, is incredibly durable, lighter than anything, and ubiquitously available.
Spooner is specially shaped to dig snow faster than anything you’ve experienced. In professional hands (e.g., IMGA Mountain Guide), it can move snow as fast as a moderately sized gasoline snow blower (stay tuned for comparo, using certified mountain guides as power source). It’s also a multi-purpose tool that works well for avalanche pit work and many other ski touring requirements. What is more, you can get a free one (see end of post).
Ergonomic is an understatement. You can move this thing faster than any shovel you’ve ever experienced. Indeed, BSA calls this the “Splendid Spoon.”
I asked Lou Dawson if he’d ever tested this shovel. Or better, if he’d ever done a factory visit to BSA. “For sure,” he said, “I stayed at a 5-star hotel near their headquarters in Michigan, where they use the legendary Saganaw tooling to cast thousands of these things. Economic rebirth for those guys, and lots of free shovels. Win win. I can’t think of a better place to test avalanche shovels than on the frozen slush of the Great Lakes. Just think F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is the real deal. Amazing.” (Editor’s note: Sorry Leon, but that’s the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck we believe you’re alluding to.)
Isolating a column for shear test is quick and easy with the BSA (Best Snow Accessory) Spooner.
Spooner only weighs 66 grams. Despite its diminutive form factor, this shovel has been shown in extensive testing by BSA to be perfect for the conveyor belt style of rescue excavation. Further, when included in the famed Getswine shovel test, it received highest honors because it held up perfectly to being stepped on with a ski boot — the most important part of avalanche rescue, as most of you know, is stepping on the shovel with your ski boots.
Spooner used as boot spoiler takes you to flex 1130, in other words, your boots will go to eleven!
With a quick mod, Spooner takes your heel lifters to eleven as well. You’ll need two, but doing avalanche rescue with a Spooner in each hand is proving to be best ever. This has been popular in the Wasatch, while an Austrian mountain guide I showed this to just laughed, said something like “Americaner” then swiped my Spooners to use for sculpting skin track kick turns for his clients.
Try this with your old out-of-date avalanche rescue shovel. Spooner fits adjustment slot in major brand ski touring bindings.
Gotta go? Dig yourself a Spooner hole! I don’t think we’ve ever found an item of equipment as multi-purpose as the Spooner!
I’m told Spooner is the only TUV certified avalanche rescue shovel to ever exist, they used ISO standard 11241 — impressive as each Spooner is sold with this retail seal of authenticity. Nothing fake here.
The Spooner can easily be transformed into a 6.4GHz directional antenna booster for BSA radios and extends range 5X; one meter Coax works best. Additionally, with a flick of the wrist, the ‘Boost Spooner’ will drop Wi-Fi controlled drones right out of the sky. It detects the drone’s access Wi-Fi address, telnets to the drone’s default gateway point, scrambles all photographic images and shuts down the system without the pilot knowing the source.
Spooner can also double as a spoon, though lexan spoons are much lighter.
Spooners provide hut entertainment: Fred Friction playing spoons, Frau Gert assisting.
Available in a collector’s edition in antibacterial sterling silver, or practical stainless steel, please shop our affiliate links for the Spooner.
Stop the presses. BSA says they’ll be giving away 2,500 Spooners to the first people who Like their Facebook.
Leon Sendmuller is a reporter for the Aspen Daily Cryer and specializes in ski related issues. He is personal friends with nearly everyone in Cinch Creek as well as having been employed as a cabin boy on the Unlimited yacht. When asked if he liked is former job as an Aspen Powder Tours guide better than being a cabin boy, he said “cabin boy, for sure, the tips were better.”
