Wednesday, 04 June, 2008
Walkers killed by avalanche in the cirque de Gavarnie
Accordng to the High Mountain Police (PGHM) based at Pierrefitte Nestalas in the Hautes-Pyrénées two walkers have fallen to their deaths this afternoon in the cirque de Gavarnie. The two victims, aged in their late 50s where at the échelle des Sarradets. According to capitain Bertrand Couret, spokesman for the PGHM “it is likely that they were taken by a snow purge… there is a lot of snow above 2000 meters and the conditions are like winter with a high risk of avalanche”.
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Saturday, 31 May, 2008
Avalanche on the Aiguille du Midi
A 28 year old ski tourer has been killed by a slab avalanche close to the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix. The man was carried 800 meters by the slide which occured at 9h30 on the north side of the Col du Plan.
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Friday, 30 May, 2008
Drug taking in ski mountaineering
Ten drug tests on ski mountaineers made at the end of the 2008 edition of the Patrouille des Glaciers (PdG) have indicated that one of the participants may have been using EPO. There have been persistent rumours of some drug use in ski mountaineering. Last year the Swiss Army, which runs the PdG, signed an agreement with Swiss Olympic to introduce drug testing.
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Thursday, 01 May, 2008
SAM 2008
The Mountain Equipment Mondial returned to Palexpo in Grenoble last week and the emphasis was firmly on sustainable development, a subject close to our hearts. However, sustainable, for alpine skiing, doesn’t necessarily mean environmentally friendly.
20C and real snow!
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Wednesday, 30 April, 2008
Chamonix Freeride Days – 10th Anniversary
This Sunday is the 10th anniversary of the Chamonix Freeride Days. It is hard to imagine that the season is nearly over. The freeride days will be held at Grands Montets. The organizers want to settle the question, who is the better skier, downhill or freerider? Now we know that downhill skiers have the technique but can they ski off the groomed corduroy? What about freeriders, all speed and no skill?
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Thursday, 24 April, 2008
Multiple burials revisited
There is quite a battle raging in the normally sedate world of avalanche research. On the one hand Team Backcountry Access says that true multiple burials are so rare that backcountry travellers should focus on shovelling and probing techniques, on the other side Manuel Genswein, avalanche educator and expert in multiple burial search techniques, accuses the other side of “statistical tricks” and says Backcountry Access are ignoring the “inconvenient truth” that the Tracker beacon is technologically“out of date”.
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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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Sunday, 20 April, 2008
Winter conditions leads to rise in avalanche deaths
A return to winter conditions has brought a smile to the faces of ski resorts as they look towards the end of the season but has also brought a significant increase in avalanche incidents. A reminder that the conditions that lead to unstable snow conditions are not confined to the winter months. There have been 15 confirmed deaths over the winter in France with 9 occuring during March and April. Yesterday an experienced ski tourer was killed in the Maritime Alpes and two other skiers seriously injured above l’Alpe d’Huez.
Couloir des Pioches, alpe d’Huez
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Wednesday, 16 April, 2008
Ubaye in shock following avalanche death
Pierre Lombard, popular owner of the Gite de Larche has been killed by an avalanche yesterday. The Gite de Larche is a favourite overnight stop on the GR5 long distance walking route. Mr Lombard has deep roots in the area, his father was a long serving mayor in the community. An experienced mountaineer, news of Mr Lombard’s death has sent shock-waves well beyond the tight knit mountain community.
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Wednesday, 02 April, 2008
The Vallee Blanche is not a ski piste
Thursday 13th of March, 2008. We’ve just done our 14th crevasse rescue and our second fatality this year after a fall of 30 meters. We don’t repeat this often enough but skiing on a glacier requires certain precautions and a knowledge of the terrain.
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