A French skier from Limoges has been killed on the Swiss side of the border while skiing off piste near the Tour-Vallorcine ski area. The skier was caught with two other people who were equipped with beacons. They remained on the surface of the slide and were rescued. The skier who died was not equipped with a beacon and was buried by the slide. The skiers were in the bowl des Jeurs accessed from the Vallorcine lift system. The area is known for avalanches.

With strong “foehn” winds gusting up to 130km/h in some areas moving a lot of snow the avalanche risk is considerable 3/5 (skier triggered avalanches likely) across most of the Northern Alps (including the Swiss Valais) tomorrow.

I saw and avoided this area yesterday, the snow was heavily wind damaged with some large slabs forming in areas it was drifting to. It’s always tragic to hear of an avalanche victim, but particularly humbling when you know you were skiing in the same area.

must have been here (direction NordEast...dont know which couloir exactly.

ok, i asked around and it should be here

damn it, why does it take so many times to post something?? i get an empty message window back....

mattg - 22 December 2009 10:06 AM

Is there any way of finding a more precise location for this, like a map reference? (eg a French, or I guess in this case Swiss, local govt site perhaps?)

The avalanche took place in what is referred to as the Combe des Norvegiens after an almost identical incident in 2001 which claimed 3 lives (if I remember correctly). It is at swiss grid reference 563322 098313. You will see that is at 2100m and a NNE aspect. It is steep and funnels into the gorge to the NE. You couldn’t pick a more likely place to avalanche in yesterday’s conditions if you tried. I was at Le Tour yesterday and was standing by for the probe search when the dogs found the victim.

Pistehors does a great job of promoting awareness, but it bears repeating: if you’re going to go off piste, get a transceiver, a probe and a shovel, plus some knowledge of how to use them and (most important of all), some awareness of how not to get caught in the first place. Please.

poling - 22 December 2009 03:24 PM

damn it, why does it take so many times to post something?? i get an empty message window back....

Interesting. Did you click “Fast Reply”? or “Post Reply”? I will have to look into what is happening. Maybe the server needs more resources?

Jean-Pierre Devouassoux was also killed in the same spot on the 27th December 1998. The whole valley really did turn out for the funeral of this popular guide of 35 years. Little did they realise what was to come just a couple of months after.

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Articles/Montroc-Avalanche

davidof - 22 December 2009 07:15 PM

poling - 22 December 2009 03:24 PM

damn it, why does it take so many times to post something?? i get an empty message window back....

Interesting. Did you click “Fast Reply”? or “Post Reply”? I will have to look into what is happening. Maybe the server needs more resources?

post reply. took me lioke 4 times before it actually got posted..