TECHNOLOGY: Deadly Avalanche Highlights Airbag.

The weekend avalanche that killed three skiers near Stevens Pass, Wash., was the single-deadliest such accident in three years, but it highlighted a safety device that likely saved the life of a fourth skier caught in the slide. Three skiers were buried alive in Sunday’s avalanche, which occurred outside the boundaries of the Stevens Pass ski resort. Skier Elyse Saugstad, however, had time to deploy her “avalanche airbag backpack” as the onrushing wall of snow struck.

Well, good.