It is part of the standard equipment, along with the avalanche beacon and the probe. Without a proper shovel, it would be impossible to free a buried man from the snow with your bare hands. The snow can freeze up from friction and form blocks, which is a mission impossible to dig with your bare hands. That's why a good shovel is a very important accessory for winter hiking! There are plenty of reliable manufacturers on the market, including Pieps, Ortovox, Mammut, Salewa, LACD, Black Diamond and Arva.
As regards the material, only aluminium blades are strictly recommended. There are also older plastic paddles on the second hand market, but avoid using them (they can be good as winter equipment in the car 🙂 )
A telescopic handle is highly recommended, because you will be able to work with a much larger lever when it is extended. There are many different types of handles, but in my experience, the "C" and "D" shapes are the most useful, because the "T" shape is difficult to hold in a 2-fingered glove, for example, and it can easily slip out of your hand when it gets snowy and icy.
The blade head should be large and it is also useful to have an edge. The various bumps help break up the snow and prevent it from sticking to the surface. Another very useful option for a shovel is to have a head that can be turned into a scoop mode, which makes it much easier and quicker to dig and remove snow.
There can also be various additional features of a shovel, such as a saw that can be hidden in the handle to help you dig snow profiles, or a pick head that can be mounted on the handle and used as an ice pick when assembled.
If you want to learn in practice how to use an avalanche shovel effectively, come and take part in an Avalanche course!
