Just read the article on the young skier outside of Seattle who decided to ski out of bounds around New Years, and ended up being lost for about 5 days.
I guess he will lose the tips of a few fingers and toes, but should be a pain in the ass skier by next year. Also lost 20 pounds.
What would have helped this guy?
Would a GPS have helped him get out; $250?
Would a simple fire starting kit have saved him sooner and perhaps saved the tips of his fingers and toes; $10, including wire saw?
The extreme being an aireal flare or some type of smoke device/signal; $25 - $50?

Wonder how much was spent saving this guy's butt when $10-$20 worth of preparation would have probably done the trick, not to mention the fact that if he followed the rules, it most likely would not have happened.
Foolish, very foolish.

How about the cheapest - don't ski out of bounds?

Well said - unfortunately, about the only thing they DON'T sell at ski resorts is common sense. The three snowboarders who died in Utah in December were in a known avalanche area, but the snow was new and looked good, so they went snowboarding - for the last time.

I'd recommend mandatory avalanche awareness training, but I don't want to start a(nother) flame war ... <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Perhaps just a course in "common sense."
Mandatory? Hmmmmmm........
Not sure it would help, even with a final test.

I just saw a Weather Channel "Storm Stories" segment on avalanches - they showed the ski patrol at an unnamed resort taking out-of-bounds snowboarders and burying them in snow as if they were caught in an avalanche, then having the staff and dogs practice finding them!

They did give the snowboarders radios so they could call out if they were in distress, and didn't really seal them into the snow completely...but it seemed to get the point across. They said there were no recidivists amongst the buried...