Accidents

Thursday, 25 June, 2009

Avalanche kills two on Mont Blanc

Two Haute-Savoyards have been killed by an avalanche on Mont Blanc early yesterday. The climbers were attempting a long route on the Droites above the Talèfre glacier. It seems that the pair were hit by a small slab under the Tour des Courtes at around 3600 meters altitude. The men were swept to their deaths over cliffs.

Posted by davidof at 07:35 AM
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Friday, 29 May, 2009

Karine Ruby killed by crevasse fall

Olympic snowboarding champion Karine Ruby and a client have been killed by a crevasse fall on Mont Blanc. A second client is in a serious condition. Ruby won Olympic gold for the snowboarding giant slalom at Nagano in 1998. Ruby passed the grueling guiding exams last summer along with 46 other candidates.

karine ruby

Posted by davidof at 05:10 PM
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Sunday, 17 May, 2009

Two ski tourers dead in Alps

There have been a number of incidents in the Alps. Team PisteHors was in the Ecrins this weekend to climb the Agneaux above Villar d’Arêne . This morning we heard the rescue helicopter making a number of rotations. A 45 year old Grenoble based ski tourer was killed after falling 400 meters over rock bands on the north face of the Pic Maître around 3000 meters altitude.

Posted by davidof at 09:21 PM
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Monday, 04 May, 2009

Cornice collapse kills Pyrenean ski tourers

One ski tourer is missing and another has been killed above the étang (lake) de Gnioure on the south-east face of the pic d’Endron. The pair were climbing on a cornice which broke away from the mountain around 2300 meters.

Posted by davidof at 09:25 PM
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Friday, 17 April, 2009

The one that got away

A 35 year old ski tourer has been caught by an avalanche above Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye in the Alpes de Haute-Provence late yesterday morning. Climbing alone he could have become just another one of these years statistics but fate decided otherwise.

Posted by davidof at 09:23 AM
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Tuesday, 14 April, 2009

Dramatic avalanche rescue at Val d’Isere

Henry Schniewind has sent us information about an avalanche rescue operation at Val d’Isere yesterday. Three ski tourers were buried climbing to the Point Pers. The avalanche released 200 metres above them, probably due to remote triggering and was 400 meters wide. The slope is west facing at around 3500 meters altitude.

Posted by davidof at 09:41 AM
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Monday, 13 April, 2009

Three ski tourers killed by Queyras avalanche

Three ski tourers, two men and a woman have been killed by a large avalanche on the Pointe Joanne (3052 meters) in the Southern Alps. A fourth person has been taken to hospital in Briançon but without serious injury. The slide measured 400 meters and run over 800 meters.

Posted by davidof at 02:26 PM
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Crevasse victim slams bad Samaritans

René and his friend, Fredo were skiing the glacier du Gébroulaz on the first Saturday in April. The Gébroulaz links Val Thorens with Meribel-Mottaret. The were crossing the crevassed section on the lower part of the glacier when a snow bridge broke under René and he plunged 40 meters into a crevasse.

Posted by davidof at 09:49 AM
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Guide killed by crevasse fall on Mont-Blanc

A 39 year old guide has been killed on the glacier d’Argentière in the Mont Blanc range yesterday morning at around 10h30. The man was running a crevasse rescue course with two clients.

Posted by davidof at 09:30 AM
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Saturday, 04 April, 2009

Avalanche at Val d’Isère

A family group with a ski instructor have been caught by an avalanche off piste in Val d’Isère. One of the group, a 21 year old man, was taken by helicopter to Grenoble in a critical conditions.

Posted by davidof at 09:09 PM
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