General News

Many accidents happen when the risk is at level three

Many of the recent accidents have taken place when the avalanche risk is at level 3, including the death of a British resort worker in Tignes last week who was caught while out boarding with a friend. He worked at the Alpaka hotel in Tignes Le Lac and was a well known character in the resort. His death has caused considerable shock in the tightly knit community of resort workers in the French resort.

There is a warning scale of 1 – 5 that each resort puts up on a daily basis and monitors throughout the day. The risk scale ranges from 5 (very high) through to 1 (low). As stated most people however die when the level is 3 (considerable) as they think it is safe.  It was 3 when the people died in Tignes, Klosters and Pontresina.

A 12 year old boy is reported to have been killed in Klosters in the last few days, after skiing offpiste and being buried in avalanche. A skidoo rider also died of his injuries in Northern Italy and 3 others perished when a group of 12 was hit by an avalanche on Mount Maniva, near Brescia.  Others remain in hospital.

The Alpaka Bar last week

We asked the Ski Club's avalanche safety expert Nigel Shepherd what level 3 actually means. "Level 3 is a difficult one to predict for the off piste skier, as the risk remains at 3 for much of the season" he told us, "the most important thing to remember is there are certain aspects  of slopes or localised areas that will be at greater risk than others. So level 3 means there significant risk  but it is localised."

Amongst the other casualities was a 44-year old Dutchman who was out snowshoeing in Pontresina area of Switzerland when he was swept away by an avalanche last weekend while descending off piste. He was wearing a transceiver but it still took rescuers 35 minutes to find him, under 120cm of snow.

This reinforces the advice that you and your group need to be skilled in tranceiver use to maximise your chances of survival. If you are caught in an avalanche you have a 93% chance of survival if found in the first 15 minutes.  It drops to 45% after 30 minutes and 28% after 45 minutes. The average time of a rescue team to reach you is 45 minutes, so you’ll need to rely on your friends

Nigel advises caution

The Ski Club advises people to obey all the rules and to check the forecast and snow conditions.They should never ski off piste without an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe and should practice using them so they are proficient in their use should the worse happen.

The Club also recommends people to use mountain guides wherever possible and to  let people know where they intend to go skiing or boarding if they are planning to head off piste.

Unfortunately, one person has been reported missing, feared dead, in Chamonix after failing to heed this advice.  He set off down the Vallee Blanche above Chamonix on his own and was reported to be inappropriately dressed.  Lift attendants warned him not to go but he ignored their advice.

The route is heavily crevassed and should not be undertaken without a mountain guide.
The Piste Hors web site  reports that he was wearing jeans and a leather jacket.

Sadly the accident rate in North America is also high too, with 14 dying in the USA and 10 in Canada.