Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding

Thursday, 21 February, 2008

Melting glaciers worry the UN

The fact that Europe’s glaciers are shrinking is no longer news to anyone who goes skiing. A little over a century ago a Gap based botanist noticed changes in the flora on the terminal moraines in the Alps and published a prescient article entitled: “Are these indications of a coming change in climate?”. In the 50s and 60s the French Alpine Club’s house Magazine “Montagne” also published a series of articles on the shrinking glaciers that ski mountaineers had noticed. Now a report presented today in Monaco by the PNUE (Programme des Nations Unies pour l’environnement) shows just how serious the shrinkage has been.

Posted by davidof at 03:40 AM
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Monday, 18 February, 2008

ORTOVOX informs: F1 and standards conformity/compatibility

ORTOVOX has never advised users of the ORTOVOX f1 plus that this avalanche transceiver is obsolete. All ORTOVOX avalanche transceivers conform to the avalanche transceiver standard and have been transmitting correctly since 1981 with the frequency required these days of 457 kHz +-80Hz transmitter tolerance. Your ORTOVOX avalanche transceiver can therefore be picked up by all receivers working properly worldwide!

Posted by snowfox at 02:28 PM
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Smog blankets Alps

The long period of high pressure has resulted in a smog cloud settling on the French and Swiss alps below 800 meters altitude. The pollution alert reached 9/10 (bad) on Saturday as thousands of tourists crossed the region heading for the ski resorts. The French love of diesel cars doesn’t help matters. However road transport is not the only culprit. The fine particle cloud is also the result of domestic heating and industrial emissions such as waste incineration.

smog in the alps
Smog in the Arve valley yesterday

Posted by davidof at 08:03 AM
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Wednesday, 13 February, 2008

Alps snow holding up despite record temperatures

Meteo France is reporting that snow cover is good in the Alps and Corsica, but only above 1500 meters. However the Pyrenees is suffering from a second year of poor snow with cover only starting from 1300 to 1500 meters on north faces and 1800 meters on southern slopes.

point du midi

Posted by davidof at 03:01 PM
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Mystery of bodies in the woods

The bodies of two skiers have been found yesterday evening at the foot of a couloir in la Grave. The first body was discovered by a mountain guide in the vallon d’Orcière at 2000 meters altitude. A helicopter search of the area by the High Mountain Police from Briançon discovered a second body 100 meters higher up at the foot of the cliff face.

Posted by davidof at 02:41 PM
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Tuesday, 12 February, 2008

Ski Accidentology

It’s said that journalists “never let the facts get in the way of a good story”. When the facts concern snow, avalanches, swanky Alpine ski resorts and junketting doctors the press pack is out in force. The office phone was ringing hot last week as British journalists tried to find an interesting angle on the death of a 40 year old doctor in Val d’Isère.

Posted by davidof at 10:19 AM
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Monday, 11 February, 2008

Missing snowboarder records “last message” on digicam

It was to be the perfect end to a week spent in les Deux Alpes. A trip down freeride Mecca of the vallons de la Meije above la Grave. The only problem, the five young Belgium snowboarders were not properly equipped and didn’t have the necessary level for the adventure that would turn into a nightmare.

girose glacier
The Girose

Posted by davidof at 01:07 PM
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Wednesday, 06 February, 2008

Climber identified after half a century

The remains of a climber, frozen in ice, along with a crampon were discovered in September 2007 on the Tré la Tête glacier at around 3000 meters altitude and started the High Mountain Police in Chamonix (PGHM) on a long quest to discover his identity.

Posted by davidof at 08:37 AM
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Boarder found dead at Pra Loup

There have been a number of accidents over the last couple of days. A ski tourer was caught by an avalanche on the north face of the Grand Colon close to Grenoble on Sunday. He was carried 100 meters over small cliffs but was not buried. He suffered from a broken ankle and other injuries and was taken to hospital by helicopter. Witnesses described the conditions as delicate because of around 40cm of fresh snow and very strong winds.

Posted by davidof at 07:32 AM
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Thursday, 31 January, 2008

Time to retire the Ortovox F1?

Ortovox have recently advised users of the ORTOVOX F1 Plus, manufactured in the early 1990s, that their beacons cannot be serviced and may need to be replaced. A recent study by Thomas S. Lund (Signal Strength vs. Signal Timing - The Avalanche Review - Vol 26/2) questions whether it is time to retire other analogue beacons including the venerable Ortovox F1 given that there may be compatibility problems with more recent digital beacons.

Please read ORTOVOX comments on the F1/F1 Plus

ortovox f1