http://pistehors.com/news/ski/index/ Ski and Snowboard News en david.george@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-05-09T22:31:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1048-avalanche-warning-with-warm-temperatures/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1048-avalanche-warning-with-warm-temperatures/?gid=1048000 The rescue services have warned ski tourers to take care over the next few days with renewed warm temperatures in the mountains. There is a lot of snow at altitude and there have been a couple of recent incidents with reports of slabs, particuarly in the Ecrins region. Accidents, Avalanche 2012-05-09T22:31:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1047-little-cottonwood-jamie-pierre-avalanche-retrospective/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1047-little-cottonwood-jamie-pierre-avalanche-retrospective/?gid=1047000 On the 13th November 2011 two skiers traversed the mid-cirque of Peruvian Gulch at Snowbird to reach the Gad Valley ridgeline, remotely triggering a 60 cm deep, 200 meter wide avalanche that covered their boot tracks below. They may not have even seen this slide in the low cloud and poor visibility. Clipping into skis and board they skied the ridgeline then stopped. The skiers were above the south chute, a steep, rocky and tree lined couloir that drops 350 meters into Gad Valley. The first skier made three turns then - game over. Accidents, Avalanche, Reviews, Avalanche Safety 2012-03-29T13:05:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1046-prosecutor-wants-to-ban-instructors-for-5-years/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1046-prosecutor-wants-to-ban-instructors-for-5-years/?gid=1046000 Two ski instructors from the Ecole du Ski Français are threatened with a 5 year ban and suspended prison sentences in a manslaughter trial at Albertville court this week. Readers of PisteHors will remember the avalanche on the 31st December 2009 in Orelle which cost the life of a client, buried for 15 minutes by an avalanche while skiing off piste. photo: kees wolthoorn General, Legal, Accidents, Avalanche 2012-03-20T10:01:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1045-review-of-the-2011-2012-snow-and-avalanche-conditions/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1045-review-of-the-2011-2012-snow-and-avalanche-conditions/?gid=1045000 Winter 2011/12 will be remembered as cold and snowy in France, at least in an arc stretching from the Vosges in the North to the Hautes-Alpes in the south. A two week freeze February saw the coldest temperatures since 1986. Strong northerly winds made the situation worse, freezing central heating pipes and diesel and leaving hundreds of motorists stranded. However the cold was bracketed by warm, but snowy, weather. Reviews, Avalanche Safety 2012-03-18T17:27:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1044-avalanche-on-the-vallee-blanche/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1044-avalanche-on-the-vallee-blanche/?gid=1044000 When skiing the normal route of the Vallée Blanche we tend to focus on the high mountain dangers, a fall from the ridge or a crevasse, rather then avalanches. At 12h30 on Saturday the rail line that links Chamonix to the Mer de Glace was blocked by a slide. An inconvenience for 100 passengers who had to be airlifted from Montenvers but a drama was unfolding lower down for a number of skiers descending the classic Vallée Blanche route. An account of the events by Bruno and posted on his website Avalanche on forest trail - library photo Accidents, Avalanche 2012-02-28T12:32:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1043-rowdy-airbag-save-caught-on-film/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1043-rowdy-airbag-save-caught-on-film/?gid=1043000 A videographer at an unsanctioned snowboard freeride event captured some provocative footage last weekend of an avalanche airbag in action: Accidents, Avalanche 2012-02-03T03:55:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1042-val-daran-heliskiing/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1042-val-daran-heliskiing/?gid=1042000 If you enjoy the peace, quiet and savage beauty of the mountains then the Val d’Aran is somewhere to cross off you list this winter. However if you like shreddin’ the gnar and don’t care too much how then Spain could be a new destination. The Catalonian government has just authorized heliskiing in the area. Two companies will be running trips Pyrenees Heliskiing and TAF Helicopters. Photo: Pyrenees Heliskiing General, Environment 2012-01-25T08:49:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1040-six-deaths-in-a-week-in-the-french-pyrenees/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1040-six-deaths-in-a-week-in-the-french-pyrenees/?gid=1041000 The avalanche conditions may be some of the most stable we’ve known in a generation but that’s not the only danger in the mountains in winter. As we mentioned in the January Snow Conditions Thread the other side of the coin is frequently hard or icy snow. In the Pyrenees there have been 6 deaths in a week as winter sports enthusiasts have lost their footing in the mountains. That’s what I call a rain crust! Accidents 2012-01-18T17:15:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1040-best-christmas-snow-of-the-century/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1040-best-christmas-snow-of-the-century/?gid=1040000 The season may have started late in the French Northern Alps (the 7th of December to be exact) but Christmas looks like being the best since 1999 in terms of quality and quantity of snow. As we start the new year there are above average snow depths from the Vercors (1600 meters) in the south to the Bellecote (3000 meters) in the north of the Savoie. At Bourg St Maurice (900 meters) there was nearly a meter of snow on the ground on New Year’s eve. At the ski resort of Valloire (1400 meters) in the Maurienne there is 170cm at the bottom of the pistes. Spring snow in the Chartreuse at 1600m General, Environment 2012-01-01T21:56:00+00:00 http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1039-christmas-movies/ http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1039-christmas-movies/?gid=1039000 Here’s wishing everyone a happy and safe Christmas with a couple of films of how it used to be back in the 1970s. Long skis, spandex pants, and lots of facial hair. Ski Sauvage - Les Grands Montets dans les 70s General 2011-12-24T23:15:00+00:00