I carry a snow shovel (it's this one: http://www.voile.com/voile-avalanche-shovels/voile-telepro-avalanche-shovel.html). It's paid off for me several times (especially during http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post214082, where I had an older model shovel). Only when I was stuck at the bottom of a hill covered in a sheet of ice did I wish for a traction aid instead.