Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding

Sunday, 28 June, 2009

Sara Berthelot and Paul Mason qualify as French Guides

This season 54 new guides have qualified from the French National School for Skiing and Climbing (ENSA) based in Chamonix. Amongst them just one woman, Sara Berthelot and a rare American, Paul Mason.

Sara Berthelot

Posted by davidof at 02:38 PM
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Thursday, 25 June, 2009

Avalanche kills two on Mont Blanc

Two Haute-Savoyards have been killed by an avalanche on Mont Blanc early yesterday. The climbers were attempting a long route on the Droites above the Talèfre glacier. It seems that the pair were hit by a small slab under the Tour des Courtes at around 3600 meters altitude. The men were swept to their deaths over cliffs.

Posted by davidof at 07:35 AM
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Wednesday, 10 June, 2009

ARVA Link joins Pulse to set new avalanche beacon standards

French avalanche beacon manufacturer Nic-Impex, which makes the popular ARVA brand of avalanche beacon has joined Mammut’s W-Link initiative to augment the amount of information available to searches looking for buried avalanche victims.

arva link
The missing link in avalanche beacons ?

Posted by davidof at 06:47 PM
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Friday, 29 May, 2009

Karine Ruby killed by crevasse fall

Olympic snowboarding champion Karine Ruby and a client have been killed by a crevasse fall on Mont Blanc. A second client is in a serious condition. Ruby won Olympic gold for the snowboarding giant slalom at Nagano in 1998. Ruby passed the grueling guiding exams last summer along with 46 other candidates.

karine ruby

Posted by davidof at 05:10 PM
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Saturday, 23 May, 2009

Climate Change a la carte

Retreating glaciers, one of the results of climate change, creates a number of problems. New lakes can form, threatening habitation if the dam holding back the waters bursts. A change in the water cycle can alter irrigation and electricity generation. The new landscape also creates a headache for map makers and users of their products, skiers and walkers.

ign
Original 1980s IGN map

Posted by davidof at 05:28 PM
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Wednesday, 20 May, 2009

Dynastar Altitrail Powder build problems

Billed as a revolution for ski touring. A mid-fat freeride ski weighing just 2.7kg the Dynastar Altitrail Powder seemed like the answer to our dreams. At 80mm underfoot it could handle powder and difficult snow while climbing like a racer.

Posted by davidof at 09:29 PM
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Sunday, 17 May, 2009

Chalet in the Alps for 200,000 euros?

If you get your skates on you can pick up a 235 m2 chalet at the foot of the ski runs in Grand Bornand for 200,000 euros. The fantastic wooden chalet. valued at 600,000 euros is due to go to auction on the 11th of June at the the Annecy High Court (tribunal de Grande instance)

Posted by davidof at 09:27 PM
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Two ski tourers dead in Alps

There have been a number of incidents in the Alps. Team PisteHors was in the Ecrins this weekend to climb the Agneaux above Villar d’Arêne . This morning we heard the rescue helicopter making a number of rotations. A 45 year old Grenoble based ski tourer was killed after falling 400 meters over rock bands on the north face of the Pic Maître around 3000 meters altitude.

Posted by davidof at 09:21 PM
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Tuesday, 12 May, 2009

Rene Romet – The Stuff of Heros

Winched rescues only really began in the late 1960s. Before it had been common to use helicopters as a kind of air ambulance, landing teams as close as possible to accidents then letting a ground crew pick up the injured.

Posted by davidof at 01:42 PM
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Sunday, 10 May, 2009

Alouette III Facts

Designed by Sud-Aviation, who would also work on Concorde, the first Alouette 3 prototype flew at Bourget airport near to Paris in February 1959. A second prototype landed on Mont-Blanc (4810 meters) in June 1960.

Posted by davidof at 10:59 PM
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