 Poster: A snowHead
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First of all, RIP little man, and thoughts are with the family.....
Nothing worse than losing a child. Experience of a family close to me losing a child (hit by a car when I was also a child) and seeing how it has affected them is what made me take on my current job in road safety.
@ Trax:
I agree on walkie talkies. My kids now are 12 and 14, have mobiles, but they don't work overseas (emergency calls only) and reception can be bad. We always have a walkie talkie each when we go out. Only gets used in emergencies/ when lost. Used to be the kids, now seems to be dad that gets lost.
I remember once we lost my youngest, he was 7, halfway down the planecheux (sp) blue slope at Champery pds. Zero visibility, two adults present, but very easily done! He stopped and contacted us on his walkin talkie: ....uncle johnny, I've fallen of a cliff....over. Are you ok? No.....over. Bless him! We where worried sick! Turned out he'd fallen down a 2 ft ledge about 20 m up the slope.
But yes, walkie talkies for us always.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We used walkie talkies but then the kids lost one!
Oh how tragic, and how easily it could happen if all the holes in the cheese line up. 9 years ago we had the following experience that I posted about back in 2006. I reckon it was virtually unavoidable BUT we got away with it because that last slice of cheese had a hole in an unusual place and just didn't quite line up.
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| As normal we had our usual drama. All week the kids had been zipping off the piste, doing jumps, rounding trees, etc, then on the last day going down the Fontaine Froid red there was 4 muppets in a group of 6 kids, with an adult at the front and an adult minesweeping at the rear. Kids 3,4,5,& 6 see a path to the left that appears to loop round behind some trees, they shoot off. Parent at the back gets concerned when just around the corner the path does not re-join. To cut a long story short I come across the 2 adults and 2 kids looking very worried some 600 metres below the separation. They tell me the story and I now blast down to the bottom of the piste with a phone to see if somehow they have missed the adults and are waiting. They have now been lost for 25 minutes. With me is our very fit fell running friend, the plan is that he catches the lift up and skis down to follow their tracks. If he doesn’t come across them straight away we shall contact emergency services. I survey the scene at the lift and there is no sign of the kids, Our fit mate is already on the lift. I start to phone the uphill party with the bad news when I hear a faint shout “dad we’re here”. This voice comes from the middle of a very steep forest. I look up and see my eldest walking down the side of the valley side from behind the Vieux Chalet drink hut. They are carrying skis. I take my 2 aside for the mother of all bollockings and before I say a word they both burst into tears. Eventually the truth emerges. They thought the path just cut the corner off. By the time they realised that it didn’t, the path was too steep and the snow too deep to go back. They knew the piste and lift were below them and to the right so they just kept heading that way. The journey eventually involved them walking as it was too difficult to ski, it involved the last one in the group slipping and carrying the whole group over a 3m drop, poles lost up trees, 3 of the 4 convinced they were going to die, 3 of the 4 having crying fits. Quite a desperate scene for four 8-11yr olds There was no need for the bollocking, they had scared themselves far more than I ever could have. A lesson had been learnt. |
My heart goes out to the family. It would appear to be a blameless accident... but try telling them that. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Unspeakably awful. It's dreadful how quickly the pure joy of a family skiing trip can descend into horror. As @Frosty the Snowman says, it's almost certainly a blameless accident - and, fortunately, a very rare one.
Kids are so unpredictable. We lost two teenage boys in a steep, dense forest off-piste last year. We thought we'd done the right things: we had a guide, we'd agreed a back marker, we thought everyone had a phone, we'd discussed what we'd do we separated. But teenage boys have no sense of responsibility: one hadn't charged his phone, the other had left his in the chalet, and neither could remember the separation instructions. Rather than shout or return to the place where they'd last seen us, they decided to make their own way down the forest without any thought for whether it might contain cliffs or impassable gullies. Eventually they made their way back to the chalet and phoned us. They guide was furious. I was even more furious. It could so easily have ended in tragedy.
They were together and were twice the age of poor little Carwyn. If they behaved so erratically when they got lost, there's no way of predicting what a 7 year old could do when he lost his mum. I can't see any way in which she could fairly blame herself for this awful tragedy.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Frosty the Snowmanand Jonny Jones, excellent posts. I think all of us parents have similar stories, if maybe not quite to scary as yours.
I very nearly called out the emergency services in Nendaz many years ago when son (5yrs) and mum failed to appear out of last gondola down, and not seen by final sweep of pistes by pisteurs.
They were actully slowly skiing down a closed run having come to bottom of closed drag - fortunately closed run was relatively easy red with patches of brown among the white, and mum kept calm and made it all a fun adventure. Tom was fine, mum exhausted, I was shredded.
Such a tiny line between all going well and terrible disaster.
Most of us get away with it. Some don't.
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From the sound of the BBC News this morning they young lad was an experienced skier despite his age and the run he was on well within his abilities. As many of the stories above illustrate, it's so easy to get split up. I suppose we'll never know why he didn't just stay on the piste, but at age 7 I suppose fear and panic set in. So, so sad!
Although always upsetting, normally hearing about these sorts of incidents doesn't phase me much, but this one has for some reason. Probably because my youngest was Carwyn's age when we went to La Plagne at the New Year. It was Scott's first skiing holiday and after a slowish start he's really taken to it. He's progressed onto blue runs and last time out at Nevis Range he didn't want to stop, turning down the chance of hot chocolate & cake to keep skiing.
This year's holiday, to St.Anton, is already booked. Due to his ability it's not been a problem up until now keeping close to him, but as he progresses there's going to be much more chance of getting split up. Sheesh, he even outpaces his mum at times now, mainly because she's too timid, something he's definitely not. One thing for sure, I think we'll need to have a sit down and chat at the start of the next ski holiday about what to do if we get split up i.e. stay on the run, if he's not sure where to go then stay where he is, if he can see a lift ski to it and ask the operator for help, ask a ski instructor or piste patrol for help etc. I like the idea of a contact card too, I think the laminator will be getting some use in December.
On a point that's been made above with regards to reticence in approaching a child. I understand the hesitation these days, with the way the media has portrayed "stranger danger" et al. However if my child is stood at the side of a piste alone, obviously lost and most probably upset, I'd never be anything other than grateful towards anyone who stopped to help him! Conversely, sod the 'risk', I'd never knowingly ski past someone else's child in the same situation. If you really, really don't want to approach the child yourself, at least tell the next lift operator or ski patroller you see.
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Absolutely. I have four children, the oldest are 8 and 6 so this really hit home. The oldest is nominally very responsible but even she can behave utterly unpredictably at times especially if scared. Plus the little sods think they're immortal which doesn't help. I made sure to tell my oldest two about this, they need to know. If any "good" can come from what happened maybe it'll make a few children think twice in future about heading off alone, or adults get a better or even any strategy for what to do in the event of separation.
When I'm out with them all, I'm really quite anal about where the children are and what they're doing, but I've lost count of the number of heart-stopping incidents over the years (not skiing ones yet - we've only done one whole family ski holiday!) that could have ended so much worse. As has been said, it only takes one exact alignment of cheese holes and that's it. This of course does not only apply to skiing but to anything in life.
The poor mother is going to beat herself up for eternity but the fact remains that similar incidents without such a horrible consequence happens thousands of times a day on the slopes I am sure. On our family trip we stopped many times to rescue one or other of the children and the other didn't always stop with us although never went too far as you'd expect. The mother took what was basically a small risk and got the bad end of statistics. You can't go through life expecting the worst with every decision or you'd fall to pieces, not that this will be any comfort to her when you're "the one in a billion" it happens to. I really hope she has a good support network around her, not that it would bring him back.
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Having just returned safely to the UK with a 6, 9, 12 (with learning disabilities) and 15 year old, I can't stop thinking about this poor young lad. Tragic.
We're always trying to promote the independence of our boys, but (hopefully) always endeavour to manage the relative risk levels. So this holiday, our 15 year old was allowed to ski one run supervising the 9 year old (by taking Plein Sud in VT as the route to the apartment for lunch after ski school, rather than trudging back with the rest of us). But both were schooled to keep safe and in contact with each other, and remain on the piste. Of course, an accident on the piste could have happened to either of them, but both had copies of the insurance in their pockets and mobile phone numbers itemised on those.
On a slightly different vein, our 12 year old decided to have a strop at ski school on day one, and instead of sitting inside the ski school building where he was told, he removed his ski school bib and tried to walk back to the apartment, despite the fact that it was a complete pea soup of day and he had no idea where to go. Happily, a skier spotted that he was upset and getting lost, and found the insurance / phone numbers and gave me a call. I could have been livid at the school for allowing him to disappear like that, but instead counted my blessings and patted myself on the back for having the piece of paper there for him.
Fundamentally, kids might well be talented skiers, but most have poor judgment skills. Finding the right age when you can, as safely as possible, let them rely on it is possibly one of the hardest jobs for a parent to get right.
RIP little man.
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Our kids learned to ski on the nursery slope in Kaprun Village, they were 8 & 6. On about the 3rd day they had mastered the poma lift in their lesson and so we skied with them after their afternoon Ski School. We gave instruction in that I would lead and they would ski behind me but in front of the Boss. We all stood at the top of the slope, they looked at each other and then took off and straight lined it, 400m to the bottom of the slope. Before we knew what was happening. We bollocked them at the bottom but they said " Aww but Dad, we've been doing turns all week and just wanted to go straight for a change". Next trip up and the youngest sets off backwards, I shout that he must turn around as may run into someone, he bends 180 degrees at the waist. looks through his legs and shouts "there is no one there".
I just fancied sharing the above because that is what kids are like - unpredictable. Being with them as they learnt to ski was probably our happiest time ever; hopefully Carwyn's parents will have plenty of such treasured memories.
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This horrific incident does just seem like a piece of awful bad luck.
There is a lot of sensible thinking on this thread about contact cards - all good advice - but it wouldn't have helped in this case.
I did notice this from the statement
"The family were all enjoying their last ski run over the small jumps and bumps at the side of the slope together".
Sounds like the kids were nipping off the side of the piste and back. Like many of us do. And kids love to do. But I think it is easier to see how a child can wander further off-piste if they are used to doing it - just like Frosty's story above.
I don't THINK my kids would do this - they are pretty careful about staying behind me off-piste unless I tell them different but they are older now. I will be going over this and what to do if we get split up before we ski next.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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My heart goes out to the family of this little lad. If something good comes out of this horrendous accident, it will that we are all reminded of the unpredictability of youngsters no matter how good they are at something (on snow or not). I also feel particularly for his sister (not sure what age she is) as the news mentioned that they had stopped to help her put her ski back on and this was when the lad went off.
Our youngest, then aged 10, had his birthday in Flaine and the first call he made to us on his first mobile phone was to ask for help. I had gone up a steep poma behind eldest and my OH had followed on behind youngest, only there was a temporary problem with the lift and he couldn't get on. Youngest came off lift and was effectively marooned in very deep snow. He had started to try and ski out but thankfully his little legs couldn't do it.
He was a competent skier for his age but he was in quite a state and terrified. A sequence of events that could have been more serious.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@igLou,
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I also feel particularly for his sister (not sure what age she is) as the news mentioned that they had stopped to help her put her ski back on and this was when the lad went off.
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I thought that too. The whole thing, and this thread, give me the shivers.
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Does anyone know of the actual piste where this happened?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Don Keebles wrote: |
| Does anyone know of the actual piste where this happened? |
Yes, a lovely fast free flowing blue which ends up going through trees to the bottom of the drag lift back up.
Even as an adult who lived there all year it never really occurred to me that the other side of the trees was a massive great bloody cliff.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Quote: |
On a point that's been made above with regards to reticence in approaching a child. I understand the hesitation these days, with the way the media has portrayed "stranger danger" et al. However if my child is stood at the side of a piste alone, obviously lost and most probably upset, I'd never be anything other than grateful towards anyone who stopped to help him! Conversely, sod the 'risk', I'd never knowingly ski past someone else's child in the same situation. If you really, really don't want to approach the child yourself, at least tell the next lift operator or ski patroller you see.
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Happily, I think this is a peculiarly British neurosis and I doubt other nationalities would be daft enough to avoid going to the aid of a child in distress. Like Pete it certainly wouldn't stop me, or indeed too many others I hope. Doing the right thing can never be the wrong thing, if you see what I mean.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Very sad, and a terrible accident.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
| ... Happily, I think this is a peculiarly British neurosis and I doubt other nationalities would be daft enough to avoid going to the aid of a child in distress. Like Pete it certainly wouldn't stop me, or indeed too many others I hope. Doing the right thing can never be the wrong thing, if you see what I mean. |
I don't think anyone would think twice about going to the aid of anyone in distress.
I thought the original point was more nuanced though. A kid on their own isn't generally a problem. I'd not approach a child simply because they were alone, any more than I would approach a lone adult. I suppose the closest I generally get is picking up and delivering lost skis for fallen people, some of whom are kids.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I can think of 3 occasions when I have come across a child crying at the side of a piste and no "responsible adult" in sight.
In each one I have stopped, taken my skis off and sat down with them to wait until someone comes and gets them and tried to cheer them up.
My rationale being that if they have got separated then their "responsible adult" will sweep back from where they last saw the child and if the child is moved then there is the risk of them chasing you with child around the mountain.
Twice it's worked and by the time they're re-united the child has stopped crying and is happy, the 3rd the child was French and didn't understand me.
For me it's a case of not putting myself in a position where it could be alleged that I did xyz.
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The only time one of mine was "lost" in a ski resort he'd been kept prisoner by the ski school. He was 8, much the biggest boy in a class of wee beginners, and his instructions, which the instructor was aware of, were to walk from the "end of lesson" place back to the apartment for lunch - a couple of hundred yards. One day he failed to appear and I was running round everywhere, getting concerned. Turned out he'd been asked by the instructor (quite wrongly, I think) to take one of the little ones back to the ski school building and they wouldn't let him leave without a responsible adult. They just kept telling him to wait - nobody understood his increasingly desperate argument that nobody would be coming and he'd only brought the little lad back (this was a very obscure little resort in Austria) but eventually they realised what was going on and let him go.
I do have a bit of a "thing" about the last run of the day - and never cut the time to get the last essential lift too fine, to allow for contingencies.
My kids skied unsupervised as young teenagers - in Valloire/Valmeinier. Any parent who thinks this sort of thing could never happen to them is deluding themselves. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We discovered from my son, in the days after our 'incident' that a British woman on one of the chair lifts had been very concerned about our small boy, alone on the lift in tears, and had tried to offer him assistance. He refused, and apparently assured her that he knew where he was going even though he had lost his family. It was just a shame that it was such a long way for him to have to go and so took him a long time to get there. These days in most resorts his movements could have been instantly tracked from his lift pass.
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
| Quote: |
On a point that's been made above with regards to reticence in approaching a child. I understand the hesitation these days, with the way the media has portrayed "stranger danger" et al. However if my child is stood at the side of a piste alone, obviously lost and most probably upset, I'd never be anything other than grateful towards anyone who stopped to help him! Conversely, sod the 'risk', I'd never knowingly ski past someone else's child in the same situation. If you really, really don't want to approach the child yourself, at least tell the next lift operator or ski patroller you see.
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Happily, I think this is a peculiarly British neurosis and I doubt other nationalities would be daft enough to avoid going to the aid of a child in distress. Like Pete it certainly wouldn't stop me, or indeed too many others I hope. Doing the right thing can never be the wrong thing, if you see what I mean. |
I must confess I'd hesitate. It may be a British disease, but I have been brainwashed to be wary of approaching unaccompanied children. These days I am less comfortable than I used to be about accepting a ski school request for a child to accompany me, though I still accept - and on one occasion, did stop a child from sliding out under the safety bar.
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| Jonpim wrote: |
Frosty the Snowmanand Jonny Jones, excellent posts. I think all of us parents have similar stories, if maybe not quite to scary as yours.
I very nearly called out the emergency services in Nendaz many years ago when son (5yrs) and mum failed to appear out of last gondola down, and not seen by final sweep of pistes by pisteurs.
They were actully slowly skiing down a closed run having come to bottom of closed drag - fortunately closed run was relatively easy red with patches of brown among the white, and mum kept calm and made it all a fun adventure. Tom was fine, mum exhausted, I was shredded.
Such a tiny line between all going well and terrible disaster.
Most of us get away with it. Some don't. |
Completely agree Frosty and Jonny made great posts
Its also great to see people posting practical advice re contact cards etc. Hell even I have a tube attached to my transceiver with all my contact, NOK, insurance and travel details just in case.
The poor little lad, like others has said this has really shocked me to the core, and im easy to shock. Really does cut you up, and I cant imagine what the family are going through.
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It made me very sad to hear about this. Ski holidays are such a happy, fun time for families and this is the most unimaginable traqedy. Thoughts go to his family and everyone who knew him. The worst thing is thinking how terrified he must have been. Just awful. RIP little man.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Horrible, horrible incident and one that really cuts me to the core. We were in Samoen at the beginning of Easter and my son is just slightly younger than Cerwyn. I worry everytime we go skiing that this could so easily be us, particularly given his love of speed and complete lack of awareness of the risks. My heart breaks for this family, so tragic.
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I tried the walkie-talkie option but found them too bulking and lacking in range. This year Oscar had my old Samsung Galaxy S3 in his pocket or backpack. It has an Asda PAYG SIM in it and I top it up before we go so and switch on roaming data. He won't be surfing the net on it and once I've switched off all the auto-update for the apps it uses very little data. It has Android Device Manager installed so it makes tracking him very easy. This year when we were in Belle Plagne with Esprit I was in Les Arcs while he was out with his ski school class. A few times I checked to see where he was and then suddenly his position began to make no sense for the time of day. It was nearing lunch and he should have been close to BP but the tracking showed him on the Champagny side. I was a little concerned at first but then came to a couple of conclusions (1) he'd lost the phone or (2) he was back indoors and the signal was sporadic and giving a false location. I figured that if he wasn't where he should be Esprit would have called. As I made my way back over from Les Arcs I tracked him again and it showed he was now exactly where he should be; at the Chalet Hotel. I continued down Arpette towards the hotel and tracked him again. He was on the move and at that very moment he popped out in front of me at the end of the path leading to the hotel.
Using a mobile in this way is highly effective and given that most of us will have an older, but still relatively new, model lying around that we have replaced by a slight newer one quite a cheap method of securing our kids welfare. Given what we spend on ski gear and holidays, a few extra quid sticking a PAYG SIM in to an old phone is a very small price to pay.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Has anyone used GPS trackers with their kids?
I am considering investing when we start to ski again (we are currently living in India so returning to Europe for a ski holiday is a tad expensive at the moment). My kids will be old enough to ski together, or with similar aged friends, and I like the idea of knowing where they are if there is a problem. I think that a GPS coupled with walkie talkies could be the way forwards but am hoping that someone here has some experience of them.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Fantastic idea Gaza, definitely going to use this in future 
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Just for sake of balance (which I know is hard with such a traumatic story) can anyone remember another fatality like this? I think it is a bit of a freak (not children getting lost for a bit but children actually getting hurt badly as a result). Parent's are obviously free to make their own decisions but I'm not sure the risk really requires for electronic tagging?
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You know it makes sense.
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How terrible. My heart goes out to the family, torn between helping one and chasing the other. Let nobody blame them.
With young kids myself, I have a knot in my stomach just thinking about the incident. I could add my own near-miss tale to the the above list - there, but for the grace of God, go I.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@jedster, of course you are right about keeping things in perspective. But if you can do something that helps keep you as a parent feeling happier, and your child safer, but still allows your child the freedom they need to learn about life and gain confidence etc most parents would choose to do what they can to that end?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Phone tracking can be very effective. I know from my days organising school trips how easy it is to lose students. We often had instructors lose them. I've lost other adults or got split up myself skiing in groups before. You only need to take different paths at a fork junction or hit some low visibility and things can get very difficult. It's very easy to lose a child in Sainsbury's, let alone up a 1500m mountain.
I think it's very sad that people are afraid to talk to a lone child. A small child up a large mountain on their own is very vulnerable.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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But if you can do something that helps keep you as a parent feeling happier, and your child safer, but still allows your child the freedom they need to learn about life and gain confidence etc most parents would choose to do what they can to that end?
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Yes - perfectly valid but if the risk to your child is really extremely low there is a risk you that you exacerbate your fears by focusing on it.
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Phone tracking can be very effective. I know from my days organising school trips how easy it is to lose students. We often had instructors lose them. I've lost other adults or got split up myself skiing in groups before. You only need to take different paths at a fork junction or hit some low visibility and things can get very difficult. It's very easy to lose a child in Sainsbury's, let alone up a 1500m mountain.
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Alternatively you could just give them a call?
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I think it's very sad that people are afraid to talk to a lone child. A small child up a large mountain on their own is very vulnerable.
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Agreed. If I see a child apparently on there own I will ask if they are OK and who they are with. I don't see ANY issue with that if you keep a sensible distance.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| jedster wrote: |
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But if you can do something that helps keep you as a parent feeling happier, and your child safer, but still allows your child the freedom they need to learn about life and gain confidence etc most parents would choose to do what they can to that end?
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Yes - perfectly valid but if the risk to your child is really extremely low there is a risk you that you exacerbate your fears by focusing on it.
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After losing our son for all those hours one trip, we still took our 3 skiing again as soon as we could. We accepted that whatever you do in life there is always going to be a risk, but our willingness to do that lay in knowing that we had done everything we reasonably could to prevent disaster. I do not think you exacerbate your fears by doing what you can to prevent an accident, I think you allay those fears.
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Following my earlier post about my own 7 year old son's "disappearance" from ski school (and subsequent "rescue" by a French couple for which we are eternally grateful) can we please nail this UK obsession with adults (aka mostly men) not approaching young children.
This is largely a media inflicted own goal.
My wife and I both work in primary education (actually 3 to 11's). "Modern" parents seem obsessed with the possibility that "males" (in primary education or in general) may be paedophiles. This seems to carry itself into too many aspects of everyday life. Context is highly relevant and surely any responsible adult on the mountain can recognise the hazards for children. Even if an adult has the slightest suspicion a child might be lost or in difficulty they must and should help - without first wondering how their actions might be interpreted. Who is more vulnerable here - the child or the adult? Has all self confidence drained from our adult population as a result of often exaggerated media scaremongering or god forbid "what people might think"?
Apologies for the rant - perhaps with my views I occupy a world of naivety - but I hope not.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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As another example of how easy it is to 'lose' a child, even for a short time, we had just arrived at the top of the nursery slope in La Tania, having skied the green through the trees with our own children and was waiting at the junction with the red before heading into the village. There is a TO chalet right on that corner, and I could hear a child loudly crying from the general external area of the chalet, but not see anyone. I took my skis off and stumbled across the deep snow in the garden, to find a toddler of about 2, in his thermals but without shoes, sobbing and frightened. It seemed he'd simply walked out of the door (perhaps waking from a nap and disorientated) and was locked out. He was freezing and his feet were wet. I picked him up and, talking to him to try to calm him, carried him towards the chalet door, when a woman (his mother, a nanny?) rushed out and grabbed him off me, all but slamming the door in my face. Perhaps she was embarrassed at having 'lost' a child in her care, but it was quite unnecessary - in the same circumstances, I'd do the same thing again. I've often thought what could have happened if he'd been outside for much longer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As the mother of a 7 year old boy who skis much much faster than me, and can easily ski out of sight (although we always tell him to wait at the next junction or some such), if my son was alone on the mountain looking lost and upset, I would never be anything other than utterly grateful to any other adult who stopped to help him. I think most parents would feel the same. 'Stranger Danger' is a vastly over inflated concept in this country. There are more real and present dangers pertinent to a child alone on a mountain, than being assaulted by an opportunistic paedophile.
RIP Carwyn.
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Very sad story - almost the same age as my son, and I can easily see how it could happen. At a brisk skiing pace of 40km/h you're half a mile apart in a minute.
Whilst the high-tech solutions like phones and tracking devices sound great, mine have a much more reliable piece of kit when we're backpacking and might conceivably get separated - a distress whistle. They have a simple protocol for how and when to use it, and also have it hammered into them that they always stay put. In all likelihood it will be me responding to the whistle, but if something has happened to me then its a universal signal to everyone around.
Having their details on a card is a good idea and something I'll implement. Ours have them written into their jackets, but I can see that conditions might not always be conducive to removing their jacket.
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I like the whistle idea. Perhaps clothing manufacturers could attach one on a string to the inside pocket of kids ski jackets? Kids would probably thinks its a great feature.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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In Tignes a week or so ago, the lift pass office was issuing free contact tags with all kids skis passes, these had space for name, accommodation, parents contacts details etc. Our 8yo was seriously impressed and wanted his filled in instantly. The 13yo on the other hand just rolled his eyes....
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| Montana wrote: |
| ... He was freezing and his feet were wet. I picked him up and, talking to him to try to calm him, carried him towards the chalet door, when a woman (his mother, a nanny?) rushed out and grabbed him off me, all but slamming the door in my face. . |
Interesting. As a single male with no kids of my own, I think you can see that what you did there would be a risky thing for me to do. If I thought action was required, I would probably call for support or witnesses. Actually I've done precisely that once before when I was forced to break into someone's house to rescue them (long story).
Whistles sound like a good idea. If there was a kid making whistle distress signals that would be perfect for answering the "why were you making my kid cry" question from the irate dad.
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