Tuesday, 04 December, 2007
Backcountry boarders killed by avalanche in Southern France
We have a report that two Italian backcountry snowboarders have been killed in France by an avalanche on the border with the Cuneo region. The climbers were Riccardo Dutto, 60 years and Marco Fabbri, 38 years, both residents of Cuneo and were well known through the specialist Italian website Le Fioca Ven Mola.
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Oil price will hit ski resorts hard
Sheikh Yamani once said that the stone age didn’t end for lack of stone and if a new book by Jean-Marc Jancovici, consulting engineer and specialist in energy consumption is correct the ski age will end long before snow runs out. Interviewed by Stéphène Jourdain for the Dauphine Libere Mr Jancovici’s book is called “Le Plein s’il vous plaît!” (fill her up, please - ISBN: 978-2757803011).
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Sunday, 02 December, 2007
French avalanche analysis 2006-2007
During the 2005/6 winter we were buried under a veritable avalanche of hyperbole as the mainstream press blamed out of control freeriders for the worst season of avalanche fatalities since 1970. There were suggestions that off-piste skiing was about to be banned with even the (now) French President taking an interest in the bad boys of the backcountry.
Slab avalanche in the Maurienne - April 2007 - photo Alain Duclos.
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Cébé halts production of goggles and helmets
Cébé has announced that it is to close all its French factories and stop production of goggles and helmets by the end of the year. The manufacturer started production in Franche-Comté (France) at the end of the 19th century. It has been a subsidiary of the Italian Macrolin [MCL - ISIN:IT0001129847] group since 1999.
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Friday, 30 November, 2007
Black Diamond Skis 2008
Black Diamond have been in the ski market for a couple of years now. Their skis were originally manufactured by Atomic in Austria but they have moved production to their own factory in China. This has given the company more control over construction and allowed it to expand the product line to ten skis catering for alpine, randonnee and telemark skis. The twin tips could also do a tour in the park. The emphasis is on perrformance, surface area and relatively light weight. Julia from Black Diamond Europe showed us the range of mens and women’s skis.
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Wednesday, 28 November, 2007
Henry’s Avalanche Talk in Val d’Isere this Saturday
As some of you will know the first weekend of December is the traditional opening date for Val d’Isere. Although the Foehn and Lombard winds have had a bad effect on the November snow Meteo France is predicting a storm for the week-end with lots of fresh snow. It is certainly cold enough with temperatures well below freezing.
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Henry’s Avalanche Talk launches new information services
Henry’s Avalanche Talk, launches new information services to help you stay safe and have fun out on the snow. HAT (Henry’s Avalanche Talk) have completely revamped their web based information services. In addition to the weekly ezine, there are now 4 new blog sites.
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Monday, 26 November, 2007
Salomon turns 60
We will probably all be content to make our sixtieth although there will be the inevitable feeling that our glory days lie somewhere behind us. It seems that way for Salomon, once one of the powerhouses of ski equipment design.
“Your guardian angel”, Salomon advert circa 1965
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Thursday, 22 November, 2007
You dig, or you die!
January 2004, the temperature was - 7 °C and winds were blowing at 100 km/h. Not a place you’d put a dog out let alone a group of trainee soldiers from hot African countries. In the bitter cold of the 2600 Restefond pass in the Southern Alps the order was given: “dig or die”. Two officers perished in the storm and another two were rescued “in-extremis”, one in a hypodermic coma. Three officers were before the military division of the Marseille criminal court this week accused of manslaughter and breaching health and safety regulations.
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Are Southern Alps ski resorts ready for winter?
Last week we covered the drought in the south of France and how this may affect ski resorts over the winter. While the Northern Alpes have had a snowy start to the ski season, some resorts opened earlier than normal, the situation further south is more worrying. There was fresh snowfall at the end of October but temperatures have since been high. The col d’Agnel (2630m) has 25cm of snow on the ground, 15cm fell over the last 24 hours but further south at the Col de Restefond there is barely 10cm and the zero isotherm is around 2700 meters. The situation regarding water stocks looks better but two clouds hang over the ski resorts of Céüze near Gap and the Val d’Allos.
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