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Monday, 21 April, 2008
Gavarnie cut off by monster avalanche
The only access road to the Pyrenean ski resort of Gavarnie has been blocked by an enormous snow slide. A motorist travelling down from the resort was surprised by a slow moving avalanche late yesterday afternoon. The slide is some 15 meters deep and 150 meters wide. The local authorities have had to ask neighbouring areas to send equipment to help clear the blockage.
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Thursday, 27 March, 2008
Salomon on strike, Look wants to buy Rossignol
The Salomon factory at Rumilly is at a standstill for a third day today. The workers are claming an increase of 150 euros per month. Salomon is planning on moving ski production from France to Austria. Meanwhile Dominique Bergin, the head of Look International, a French cycle sport company, is preparing a bid for Rossignol with the idea of keeping production in France.
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Friday, 21 March, 2008
Four climbers killed by Pyrenees avalanche
Four climbers, described as “very experienced”, have been killed after falling on the Pic du Midi. It appears the group triggered a small snow slide as they were climbing towards the summit on a 45-50° slope. The climbers were at 2700 meters on the west side of the mountain in the top section of the couloir de Chiroulet.
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Saturday, 01 March, 2008
International Ski School loses trademark case
Ski schools in France are a litigious bunch. Last year we reported that the independent ski instructors union, the SIMS, was suing the ESF for misrepresentation for using the French flag in their publicity. Now it is the ESI’s turn to be on the receiving end of a court judgment.
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Thursday, 21 February, 2008
Melting glaciers worry the UN
The fact that Europe’s glaciers are shrinking is no longer news to anyone who goes skiing. A little over a century ago a Gap based botanist noticed changes in the flora on the terminal moraines in the Alps and published a prescient article entitled: “Are these indications of a coming change in climate?”. In the 50s and 60s the French Alpine Club’s house Magazine “Montagne” also published a series of articles on the shrinking glaciers that ski mountaineers had noticed. Now a report presented today in Monaco by the PNUE (Programme des Nations Unies pour l’environnement) shows just how serious the shrinkage has been.
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Monday, 18 February, 2008
Smog blankets Alps
The long period of high pressure has resulted in a smog cloud settling on the French and Swiss alps below 800 meters altitude. The pollution alert reached 9/10 (bad) on Saturday as thousands of tourists crossed the region heading for the ski resorts. The French love of diesel cars doesn’t help matters. However road transport is not the only culprit. The fine particle cloud is also the result of domestic heating and industrial emissions such as waste incineration.
Smog in the Arve valley yesterday
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Wednesday, 13 February, 2008
Alps snow holding up despite record temperatures
Meteo France is reporting that snow cover is good in the Alps and Corsica, but only above 1500 meters. However the Pyrenees is suffering from a second year of poor snow with cover only starting from 1300 to 1500 meters on north faces and 1800 meters on southern slopes.
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Mystery of bodies in the woods
The bodies of two skiers have been found yesterday evening at the foot of a couloir in la Grave. The first body was discovered by a mountain guide in the vallon d’Orcière at 2000 meters altitude. A helicopter search of the area by the High Mountain Police from Briançon discovered a second body 100 meters higher up at the foot of the cliff face.
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Wednesday, 16 January, 2008
Management buy-out for Dynastar?
Rumours about the future of Dynastar have been circulating for the past couple of years. The Sallanches (Haute-Savoie) based company, part of the Quiksilver stable (NYSE:ZQK), is the last major ski manufacturer in France. Their factory has a capacity to produce 450,000 skis per year. Quiksilver has seen its share price plummet faster than a downhill skier over the last quarter.
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Friday, 11 January, 2008
Salomon halts French ski production
The slow decline of Salomon continues. After major restructuring and job losses in 2005/6 the group has announced that it will close the Rumilly plant and stop ski production in France. The news has still been a shock for the Haute-Savoie company which only recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. According to a union representative employees “are battered and bruised but were resigned to the decisions taken by Amer sports (OMX:AMEAS) in Finland, they no longer believe in the company”.
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