General

Tuesday, 26 December, 2006

The Martyrs of Mont-Blanc

As is so often the case, it would take a tragedy, played out in the full glare of the media spotlight, for French mountain rescue services to be put on a proper footing. Fifty years ago this week, as French families started their Christmas celebrations, a team of four climbers were fighting for their lives high on the summit of Mont-Blanc. Amongst them legendary Walter Bonatti. The event would bring France face to face with the new media age, each agonising minute played in front of journalists, radio and TV.

sikorsky S58

Posted by davidof at 03:40 PM
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Thursday, 21 December, 2006

Mayor of Chamonix sees red

The mayor of Chamonix, Michel Charlet has described plans to paint the summit of Mont-Blanc red as “stupid and illegal”. A Danish artist, Marco Evaristti wants to colour the summit of Western-Europe’s highest mountain with fruit based pigments to draw attention to the pollution in the Alps caused by tourism. Charlet told the AFP news agency that there has been a earlier project to “paint the glaciers blue” by another team and said that Evaristti was a self-publicist.

mont blanc
Artist’s impression of the red Mont-Blanc

Posted by redac at 12:18 PM
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Avalanche and Off-Piste Awareness DVD

Avalanche expert Henry Schniewind, who runs the very popular avalanche talks in the French Alps and sports presenter Matt Chilton have teamed up to produce an Avalanche Awareness DVD. Avalanches claim hundreds of lives each year. The victims range from mountain residents, travellers, soldiers and rescue workers to winter sports enthusiasts. The film takes a close look at the dangers lurking in the mountains, many of these lives are lost through a lack of understanding of the risk posed by the winter environment and the awesome power of avalanches.

avalanche awareness dvd

Posted by davidof at 09:23 AM
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Thursday, 14 December, 2006

Final Solution for Flaine

The French Alpine ski resorts are known for their rugged slopes. Normally these kind of runs need close to a meter of snow in order to be skiable. The high mountain terrain can also be challenging to less than expert skiers. One of the consequences of climate change is that snow depths are thinner, particularly at the start of the season. Snow canons can be used to lay down base but they are costly to run both in terms of water and energy resources.

flaine
Durable development?

Posted by davidof at 08:50 PM
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Wednesday, 06 December, 2006

Learning ski touring

I want to start ski touring this winter and have looked into doing an introductory weekend with Chamex and Icicle in Chamonix. Do the PisteHors readers have any thoughts and suggestions about the best way to go about learning to tour?

ski touring

Posted by rjg103 at 03:48 PM
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Thursday, 30 November, 2006

Ax and Andorra to link

Following the construction by Pomagalski of the Bonsacre gondola lift that links the town of Ax-les-Thermes to the ski slopes the Ariege resort has experienced a property boom and the lift company has doubled its turnover over the last five years. The local economy has also been helped by some exceptional winters and a new autoroute link with Toulouse.

Pas de la Casa
The land of Princess - still a long way off

Posted by redac at 09:48 AM
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Wednesday, 29 November, 2006

Aux armes citoyens!

Skiers in the Hautes-Pyrenees department have been faced with a nasty surprise as they have queued up to by their ”gens du pays” lift passes. The department’s prefect has told ski resorts that it is illegal for them to offer discounts to locals or any other form of discriminatory pricing.

Posted by davidof at 05:31 PM
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Saturday, 25 November, 2006

Henry’s Avalanche Talk goes out onto the snow

Henry’s Avalanche Talk (HAT) is launching a new programme bringing its “safety is freedom” message to skiers out on the snow. HATadventures will provide 4 day weekend programmes based in Sainte Foy for skiers who want to build their confidence and knowledge about how to enjoy the off-piste and stay safe.

Posted by chrisradford at 02:49 PM
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Sunday, 19 November, 2006

Prison sentence for snowboarders after fatal avalanche

Two snowboarders who triggered an avalanche that killed a girl at La Clusaz in February 2003 have been sentenced to 2 and 4 months in prison. They had been tried for “manslaughter due to lack of care, negligence or security”. Both sentences were suspended by the Annecy Criminal Court. On the day of the accident Météo France had announced a considerable avalanche risk (3 on a scale of 5) with particular dangers close to ridgelines.

Posted by redac at 11:00 PM
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Saturday, 11 November, 2006

Prefect says stop to Les Houches shenanigans

At 9 million € the new gondola lift at les Houches Prarion is the biggest investment in the French Alps this winter but its opening has been threatened by a series of legal actions. This time it is not the eco-warriors of the FRAPNA or Mountain Wilderness who are objecting to the new cable car but a local lift operator. For historic reasons the ski lifts at les Houches are run by two rival companies. The THP (Télécabine Les Houches Prarion) which has recently changed its name to LHSG (Les Houches Saint Gervais) and the SEPP. Think Dallas and the Ewings and the Barnes.

les houches / prarion cable car