Vosges climbers injured by snow slide Faction’s Fat Twins Ski tourer killed by Pyrenees avalanche In the heart of an avalanche Artificial snow, a short term fix? Kilimanjaro, blame it on the sunshine Ultimate touring ski from Dynastar? Backcountry boarders killed by avalanche in Southern France Oil price will hit ski resorts hard French avalanche analysis 2006-2007 Cébé halts production of goggles and helmets

Sunday, 30 December, 2007

Vosges climbers injured by snow slide

Two climbers have been injured by an avalanche in the Vosges massif yesterday. The climbers, a man aged 45 and a woman of 35 were in the Y couloir near to Falimont on the north side of the Hohneck. They were not buried by the slide but suffered from a number of fractures.

Posted by davidof at 05:12 PM
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Thursday, 27 December, 2007

Faction’s Fat Twins

Verbier based Faction Skis lives by the slogan “Nothing but Fat Twins”. We caught up with Entrepreneur Alex Hoye and Graphic Designer Tony McWilliam up on the glacier at les Deux Alpes. Melbourne based McWilliam took us through the range. For the park there are two skis with 92mm underfoot, the Dillingen 168cm and the Wednesday 178cm. For Backcountry freestylers the 3Zero in 183cm and its bigger brother, the Thirteen 191cm. Both have an ample 112 mm at the waist.

Posted by davidof at 10:22 PM
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Sunday, 23 December, 2007

Ski tourer killed by Pyrenees avalanche

A 35 year old ski tourer has been killed by an avalanche in the Hautes-Pyrénées close to the ski resort of Val Louron. The deceased was named as Stéphane Sabathé. Originally from Tarbes and a resident of Toulouse was accompanied by a his wife and a friend. They were able to remain on top of the slide and were slightly hurt and in a state of shock.

Posted by davidof at 11:52 PM
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Wednesday, 19 December, 2007

In the heart of an avalanche

Lots of people give advice about what to do when caught in an avalanche but how many of them have actually been through the nightmare of white death? The ski resort of les Deux Alpes wants to do exactly that to visitors, but in complete security thanks to a simulator dubbed The Robocoaster. The simulator is the brainchild of local businessman Marc Dode who lost a ski instructor friend and his client in an avalanche several years ago.

robocoaster

Posted by davidof at 10:35 PM
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Thursday, 13 December, 2007

Artificial snow, a short term fix?

The Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research located in Davos have just released a monster 189 page tome in German studying the effects of snow canons on the mountain economy. I’ve only had time to read the “shorter” 35 page version. The overall conclusion is that while artificial snow is essential in the short term for the economic stability of ski areas long term it has no future below 1500 meters.

snow canon

Posted by davidof at 12:37 AM
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Wednesday, 12 December, 2007

Kilimanjaro, blame it on the sunshine

The melting snows of Kilimanjaro near the African equator have become a symbol of global warming but is there really a link between the two? Two geophysicists, Philip Mote and Georg Kaser don’t think so. In an article in the journal American Scientific the two scientists have identified other causes.

kilimanjaro's shrinking ice cap
Kilimanjaro - shrinking snows (photo: Nasa)

Posted by davidof at 08:31 AM
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Thursday, 06 December, 2007

Ultimate touring ski from Dynastar?

New babies from Dynastar to be unveiled at the January ISPO in Munich. A 2600 gram wide ski with good grip for the steeps. Ski legend Pierre Tardivel and friends have helped with the development. The ski is creating quite a buzz in the French ski touring world.

Posted by davidof at 09:47 AM
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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.

Posted by davidof at 04:24 PM
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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).

pic de la mas de grave

Posted by davidof at 03:15 PM
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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.

avalanche, albaron, maurienne
Slab avalanche in the Maurienne - April 2007 - photo Alain Duclos.