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Saturday, 21 June, 2008
Adventure skier Jean-Noël Urban dies on Gasherbrum
News has reached us that Serre Chevalier based climber and extreme skier Jean-Noël Urban has died climbing on Gasherbrum I in Pakistan. The accident occured on the 18th of June at 5am. Jean-Noël was descending from Camp 2 to Base Camp when a snow bridge gave way.
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Wednesday, 18 June, 2008
First death of the summer season on Mont Blanc
As we have continually noted in our snow report conditions are still very unstable above 3000 meters with around half a meter of fresh snow since Sunday. An avalanche may have been responsible for the death of a high mountain guide, Patrick Monzat, late yesterday afternoon. The first death on the normal route of Mont Blanc for the summer season.
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Sunday, 15 June, 2008
PGHM celebrates 50 years of mountain rescue
The Chamonix High Mountain Police based in Chamonix have been celebrating their 50th anniversary this weekend. The Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne (PGHM) or more simply “le PG” was born out of tragedy. In 1956 two young climbers, Jean Vincendon and François Henry, were stranded on Mont Blanc in terrible conditions in full view of skiers and the world media opposite on the Brevent. Poorly equipped with unclear chains of command the rescue services consisting of guides and the army (EHM) proved powerless to help. The men were left to an agonising fate in atrocious conditions. The era of none-professional mountain rescue was over.
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Monday, 09 June, 2008
DBO
I was apprehensive when Bruno called. I knew him from Grenoble ski touring circles and wondered if I would be up to the mark. I needn’t have worried. Passionate about the mountains he was relaxed and friendly. Our destination was la Grande Chible and maybe the Pointe d’Emy. 1500 meters of ski touring so early in the season was asking a lot of me but I was pleased to be out in the mountains in pleasant company. For Bruno this would be a walk in the park.
Adieu Bruno (DBO)
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Wednesday, 04 June, 2008
Walkers killed by avalanche in the cirque de Gavarnie
Accordng to the High Mountain Police (PGHM) based at Pierrefitte Nestalas in the Hautes-Pyrénées two walkers have fallen to their deaths this afternoon in the cirque de Gavarnie. The two victims, aged in their late 50s where at the échelle des Sarradets. According to capitain Bertrand Couret, spokesman for the PGHM “it is likely that they were taken by a snow purge… there is a lot of snow above 2000 meters and the conditions are like winter with a high risk of avalanche”.
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Saturday, 31 May, 2008
Avalanche on the Aiguille du Midi
A 28 year old ski tourer has been killed by a slab avalanche close to the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix. The man was carried 800 meters by the slide which occured at 9h30 on the north side of the Col du Plan.
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Friday, 30 May, 2008
Drug taking in ski mountaineering
Ten drug tests on ski mountaineers made at the end of the 2008 edition of the Patrouille des Glaciers (PdG) have indicated that one of the participants may have been using EPO. There have been persistent rumours of some drug use in ski mountaineering. Last year the Swiss Army, which runs the PdG, signed an agreement with Swiss Olympic to introduce drug testing.
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Thursday, 01 May, 2008
SAM 2008
The Mountain Equipment Mondial returned to Palexpo in Grenoble last week and the emphasis was firmly on sustainable development, a subject close to our hearts. However, sustainable, for alpine skiing, doesn’t necessarily mean environmentally friendly.
20C and real snow!
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Wednesday, 30 April, 2008
Chamonix Freeride Days – 10th Anniversary
This Sunday is the 10th anniversary of the Chamonix Freeride Days. It is hard to imagine that the season is nearly over. The freeride days will be held at Grands Montets. The organizers want to settle the question, who is the better skier, downhill or freerider? Now we know that downhill skiers have the technique but can they ski off the groomed corduroy? What about freeriders, all speed and no skill?
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Thursday, 24 April, 2008
Multiple burials revisited
There is quite a battle raging in the normally sedate world of avalanche research. On the one hand Team Backcountry Access says that true multiple burials are so rare that backcountry travellers should focus on shovelling and probing techniques, on the other side Manuel Genswein, avalanche educator and expert in multiple burial search techniques, accuses the other side of “statistical tricks” and says Backcountry Access are ignoring the “inconvenient truth” that the Tracker beacon is technologically“out of date”.
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