Avalanche Balloon

One safety device that can help a potential avalanche victim improve the chances for survival is an ABS-type balloon that can be inflated prior to or while being engulfed in the moving avalanche. It increases the victim's buoyancy in the fluid and often deposits him or her at or near the top snow layers when everything stops.

But not always. And you can be near the surface and still be too deep or disoriented to rescue yourself, in which case you'll still die if you're not rescued quickly (ca. 50% mortality at 30 minutes).

The idea is a similar balloon that is (much?) larger and into which compressed helium is rapidly released from a canister, so that the potential victim is lifted vertically clear of the avalanche. Ideally you'd deploy it before being involved in the flowing snow, but even if you get caught, it would at least do as well as the conventional balloons, and would still have a better chance of pulling you entirely clear.

Once free of the avalanche, of course, you'd face the peril of finding a safe place to land (a release valve would allow you some control over descent) and hoping to avoid disastrous collisions with trees or rocks. But I think these risks would be less dangerous than burial in the snow.