Accidents
Thursday, 10 January, 2008
Tignes season worker killed by avalanche
A snowboarder has been killed off-piste in Tignes by an avalanche yesterday. The avalanche occurred in the Tufs couloir in the Toviere sector above Tignes le Lac. With light snow and poor visibility the conditions were marginal at the time of the accident according to rescuers from specialized mountain police units of the CRS des Alpes based in Courchevel. The victim was buried under 150cm of snow.
Avalanche site in the “Fingers” couloirs - Henry Schniewind
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Sunday, 06 January, 2008
Ski tourer killed by Hautes-Alpes avalanche
A ski tourer has been killed by an avalanche close to the col de Malaure in the Abriès range on Saturday. This is the first avalanche fatality in the Hautes-Alpes department this winter. The victim, named as 27 year trainee ski instructor old Alexia Garcin and local to the Queyras, was with two friends. They were on a route they new well but had to change their itinerary due to poor visibility.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Thursday, 22 November, 2007
You dig, or you die!
January 2004, the temperature was - 7 °C and winds were blowing at 100 km/h. Not a place you’d put a dog out let alone a group of trainee soldiers from hot African countries. In the bitter cold of the 2600 Restefond pass in the Southern Alps the order was given: “dig or die”. Two officers perished in the storm and another two were rescued “in-extremis”, one in a hypodermic coma. Three officers were before the military division of the Marseille criminal court this week accused of manslaughter and breaching health and safety regulations.
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Sunday, 11 November, 2007
Avalanche starters get year ski ban
The 19th of January 2006 was a particularly bad day in what was a particularly bad year. Meteo France had issued avalanche warnings after 50cm of fresh snow, accompanied by moderate to strong winds, formed slabs on north to east facing slopes. The avalanche risk was high (4/5) over much of the French Alps but the temptation of so much fresh snow was too much for many off-piste skiers. The result, by the end of the day five had been killed in avalanches and there were many less serious incidents across the region.
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Saturday, 29 September, 2007
Autumn Avalanche in the Belledonne
In our September snow bulletin we warned that avalanche conditions in the Isere were unstable above 2000 meters especially with the thaw. Today at 13h00 two walkers were caught by a snow slide climbing a narrow couloir at around 2400 meters above the lac de Crop in the Belledonne range. The two men, both from Grenoble and aged 25 and 34 were carried some 200 meters down the mountain by an avalanche of humid and fresh snow.
Avalanche Lac du Crop (archive photo)
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Sunday, 29 July, 2007
President of the UIAGM killed by crevasse fall
Some sad news has reached us today from our colleagues at Kairn.com. Savoyard guide Claude Rey, president of the International Mountain Guides association (UIAGM) has died after falling into a crevasse yesterday. We have discussed mountain safety with Claude in the past, most recently at a conference held in Grenoble this winter.
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Tuesday, 10 July, 2007
Avalanche Risk in French Mountains
July looks set to break new temperature records today. Unlike the previous 12 months this one will be for the coldest day on record. The cold weather has also brought fresh snow, high winds and avalanches. Last week a Polish group were hit by a snow slide on the Italian side of Mont-Blanc killing three. 20-30cm of new snow had fallen in the Alps and Pyrenees above 2200 meters and today new snow is expected from 1900 meters.
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