Hello all - been away for a while and wanted to stop by to say hello in case anyone's free for a natter...
I'm working on fun/daft ideas that are a bit tangential to ski/board travel, and totally stuck on this one question, so I thought I'd put it out there:
Are there any ski resort ghost stories/hauntings or any scary story at all here in Europe?
As you might expect, there are several in the USA where they really go in for that sort of thing but... I can't find anything at all in Europe.
Are we not haunted here, or just don't have any truck with that sort of thing?
What do you think?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
As we have such a fine selection of real truly horrifying things which have happened in Europe, those tend to supplant any local mythos.
Although... Back before skiing and mountaineering were popular, pretty much every peak in the Alps was said to be haunted by daemons, dragons or monsters.
And isn't there stories about hauntings up in the mountains where the Italians and Austrians fought during the WW1 bringing avalanches down on each other, IIRC 10,000 men died on just one day in December 1916, by avalanches in the Dolomites. There was something like a million dead and more than double that wounded in the eastern Alps during the conflict.
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?
I haven't met the Krampus. We don't get one in Seefeld
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Sno wrote:
thanks musher - it looks a bit like the thing they do to scare kids to death in St Anton - perfect!
Don't they have scary Dutch Trolls living there which scare the children too?
After all it is free
After all it is free
I can tell you some real shocking horror stories that involve Spirits, but I don´t think they are the kind of Spirits you mean
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.
Sno, if you've never seen it, go find yourself a copy of Troll Hunter to watch. I found it a nice modern European take on the mythic monster horror.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
This may not be 100% accurate as i can't exactly remember what i read last year
The mer de Glace used to be called Glacier des Bois - named after the hamlet at the end of the glacial valley. Further up the valley there was a small village called Bonanay.
In the 1640's it is believed by some that an old travelling gypsy woman, starving and in need of help approached the village of Bonanay seeking their aid. She sought food and safe shelter, and in reutrn she would never ask of anything from the villagers again. The villagers of Bonanay refused her their help and asked that she returned where she came from, she did as the villagers asked, she left the village and returned to the Mountains - none of the villagers saw her again. Seeking her revenge on the villagers, the old gypsy woman sent the glacier to descend the mountain, and the Village of Bonanay was lost to the glacier. The glacier continued to descend the mountain and even began to threaten the Hamlet des Bois, priests were summoned to the hamlet to dispell the spirit of the Gypsy, soon after the Glacier des bois began receeding.
Pretty cool ay!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Wow - I love that Insiders - I know a Brit-gone-native who works in Compagnie du Mont Blanc, so I'll ask if any of his French colleagues know that gypsy curse story.
Richard, Troll Hunter is now on my LoveFilm request list!
I wonder if there are any stories surrounding contemporary snowsports or mtn guide people or personalities. Wasn't it Doug Coombes who famously died skiing La Grave for instance? I remember putting a cool film preview with Glen Plake et al on our blog 3 or 4 years ago about Trevor Peterson who's son wanted to ski the place his dad died in Chamonix...
... all a bit gruesome and sad though...
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.
There's one about a tall monk with a lantern who would lead people to the St. Bernard hospice in blizzards, and who'd disappear back into the snow looking for more lost souls when they get within site of the monastery.
Of course, these days he'd be arrested for not being an approved guide, so you probably won't see him anymore...
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
... he should take the ESF speed test... that would prove he's safe to do his bit of hosting back to the chalet...
Maybe I should do a piece on "horrific" ski holiday accom... we've got about 1500 reviews from last winter and there are one or two we won't be recommending next season...
Richard, do you have a link to anything on that St Bernard story?
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Sno, I think I heard it on TV - might even have been on one of those Ski Sunday segments, or could have been on one of the ski travelogue shows on one of the sports channels...
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Sno wrote:
Wow - I love that Insiders - I know a Brit-gone-native who works in Compagnie du Mont Blanc, so I'll ask if any of his French colleagues know that gypsy curse story.
Richard, Troll Hunter is now on my LoveFilm request list!
I wonder if there are any stories surrounding contemporary snowsports or mtn guide people or personalities. Wasn't it Doug Coombes who famously died skiing La Grave for instance? I remember putting a cool film preview with Glen Plake et al on our blog 3 or 4 years ago about Trevor Peterson who's son wanted to ski the place his dad died in Chamonix...
... all a bit gruesome and sad though...
Sno, your first film - concerning the death of Doug Coombes is Steep and the second is The Edge of Never.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
There's a thing about witches in and around the Skiwelt area. Not sure how much of this is tourist related rather than genuine legend though.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Got another one for you Sno, from the early chapters in the book Slaying Dragons, The conquest of the Alps.
Quote:
Representative of the rumours [of haunted mountains] is Pilatus, a mountain near Lucerne, that held a pond full of biblical terror. According to legend, Pontius Pilate had committed suicide rather than face the prospect of death at the hands of Emperor Tiberius. His body was weighed down with stones and hurled into the Tiber. The result was a bout of the most atrocious weather the Romans had ever seen. He was hastily recovered and taken to Vienne - in a show of contempt for its inhabitants - where he was thrown into the Rhone. Further storms and tempests ensued, so he was fished out once again and thrown into the waters at Lausanne. Here, too, Pilate worked his malevolence so he was salvaged for a third time and dumped into a lake on the mountain where his storms could do no harm. It is said that every Good Friday, the body of Pilate rises from the waters of the lake and washes its hands.
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?
randyw, I live between two well-known Tatzelwurms - the Tatzelwurm linking the Inntal with Bayerischerzell and the Tatzelwurm that lives frozen/imprisoned/ under a magic spell beneath the Kampenwand.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Immature Tatzel worm spotted in the Arreschlucht last week
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Are there any ski resort ghost stories/hauntings or any scary story at all here in Europe? 
